As The Ones
by Selectiongirl56
Summary: This is a sequel to the selcection trilogy by kiera cass, what happens after the book. Credits go to Kiera Cass. Lying under the a blanket was a girl with fiery red hair but something was not quite right. Her breathing was soft, so subtle. Something was wrong...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello reader, this is my first time creating a Fan fiction so it may be a little off at times but I hope you enjoy! An update will happen soon and I apologize if this chapter is short, I will try to make these longer.**

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 **Chapter 1**

Maxon and I were in a meeting again contemplating on when to take the next step for demolishing the castes. More than half of the eights have been absorbed into other castes and things were looking up. We were closing the meeting and decided that we would do the next step in two to three months.

Out of the blue, Steven stood up and said 'So we advisors have been talking and we are in no way trying to invade into your privacy', not that this place has any, 'but when are you considering on having an heir?'

It's been 6 months since we got married, and we were starting to get the swing of things. Maxon and I have started demolishing the castes, the rebels have been at bay and the people was responding well, not very well but good enough that we are not worried. Everything is going great except for the constant question the advisors liked to throw at us every now and then. We had already decided to wait till next year since we have only been a couple for 6 months and wanted some alone time before bringing along another family member.

Maxon looked straight into my eyes and I nodded telling him I was fine and to go ahead with the standard answer we gave.

'We are planning on having it sometime next year.'

The advisors stared at us with questioning looks, some rolling their eyes at the answer they have heard over a dozen times but what answer could we give them?

'Why?' someone called out.

I took a deep breath trying to settle my heated nerves. I knew the meeting would drag on until they got their desired answer – we are planning to conceive very soon. The room was starting to turn into a farmers' market with the constant shouting, I looked up at Maxon and saw his furrowed brows with a frustrated face to go along with it, since I figured he wasn't about to say something, I decided to take action.

'Enough!' I shouted my voice as loud as my fist that landed on the table everyone immediately halted and looked my way. 'We have already decided to have it next year, there is too much on our hands for us to handle a baby now. Don't push it.' My tone was low and dangerous something I didn't know was in me. I fell back into my chair as Maxon dismissed them. When we were alone, Maxon looked at me in awe.

'That as awesome, I guess I should call for you when I want them to shut up.' He chuckled.

I laughed along with him, it was the first time he had heard it but then again, it was also the first time I was so frustrated with them. He stood up and put out a hand for me to hold onto as I got up. Today was Sunday which meant '1 meeting day' and 'exercise day'. It started as a thing we wanted to do for a month but because of how well it was welcomed by the advisors, it turned into routine – meeting from 8 to 10 in the morning, exercise from when the meeting ends to 11.

It turned into my favourite day of the week as after 11, the whole day was free unless if something comes up. We walked along the hallway from the conference room to Maxon's room. He opened the huge wooden door for me and we went into the closet. I pulled out a neon workout top and some matching shorts as Maxon pulled out his favourite army-print shorts. We changed and headed for the gym. The gym was already packed with guards in training as well as some other employees from the palace. Maxon pointed towards the treadmill and I nodded as I went to pick up a skipping rope. Maxon and I had started to develop a silent language where we could communicate without talking. It reminded me of August and Georgia's relationship when we first met them and were awed by how well they knew each other. As I went into my first 50, I heard a siren. **_The Siren._**

Maxon hopped of the treadmill, not bothering to turn it off, and pulled me along as we went down the passage way. We came upon the steel grey door that I have grown accustomed to and we escaped into the royal safe room. It seemed to hit me every time when I realised that it was only the two of us that was left of the royal family and felt for once how empty it was. I remembered when there was a crowd during the selection days and how that number descended so quickly.

I walked over to the bed and lay down. Maxon slid under the covers beside me. I gave him a small peck on the lips and we sat there as companionable silence enveloped us. I left my head on his shoulder as he gently stroked my hair. I looked up at him and saw the amount of love in his eyes and the hunger that followed, so warm and assuring. He looked into my eyes and neared me, our lips just millimeters away, this was the beginning of our new session.

We started with slow, steady kisses, as things escalated to be vigorous. I had longed for this kissing session for a while now since the fact was that we had been busy through the week and we felt as if life had been drained from us by the time we got to bed.

'I miss this Maxon,' I started, wanting to break the silence and hear his beautiful voice.

'I know, we have just been so busy…'he sighed.

'How long have we been down here?' I wondered aloud.

He glanced at his watch with a disappointed look 'Almost 3 hours'.

'What's wrong?'

'It's just that well, I don't know…I've just really missed us, you know. We've been bombarded with so much work lately and I just wished that I could spend more time with you.'

I let out a small smile at his words, he always knows what to say, 'well we are alone now…let's make use of the time we have left.'

He smiled cheekily as he crawled on top of me and continued where we left off as I felt the smile between his kisses grow wider and wider.

I could hear Maxon's steady heart beat against my ear as I woke up.'How long have I been in here?' I wondered to myself. I took a peek at Maxon's watch, 9 o'clock, we have been in the safe room for more than 11 hours... My mind started to fill with worry, rebel attacks were never this long, my mind started playing the worst possible scenarios but was interrupted by the growl from my stomach. I looked around the room trying to hunt down some food. I opened up the cupboard at the corner which had, what I expected, snacks, blankets and bottles of water. I pulled out some food and water for the both of us and placed it on the floor beside the bed and started devouring into the food. the food was stale and tasteless compared to what i was used to but I knew it would get me through for however long we were going to be in here.

'Could I have some?'

I looked up and saw Maxon smiling sheepishly with his eyes fixed on the boxes of food in front of me. I gave out a slight laugh at how funny he looked and handed him a box.

'What do you think is going on?' I enquired.

Maxon gave out a shrug and said 'I'm not sure, we have been in here for a while now but I'm not too worried since I'm with you.' he said between mouthfuls.

I gave him a cheeky nudge as he pulled me up onto the bed to sit with him. He wrapped his strong arm around my waist as I placed my head on his shoulder. It seemed like the perfect moment where we were together with no other disruptions, it felt like it was only us left on the planet and it was in this bubble where I found my most comfort. We started talking about politics and events which were coming up soon when he walked in. we turned to look at Carter, his uniform was torn with blood splatters all over but he was not injured.

'Its all clear now your majesties.' his voice was sandy and one look at the bags under his eyes, you could tell he was tired.

Maxon took my hand and we walked out together into the expected mess, that is, it was much worse than what we had anticipated. Many hallways were empty as furniture was starting to be replaced but the walls showed enough for us to know that it was not the usual southern rebel attack. The wall paper was smeared with blood and everything from eye level down was red, soaked with blood. The southern rebels would not have been able to attack with so much force, not to mention do this much damage. Maxon and I sped to our study where Aspen was expectantly waiting for our arrival.

"Your majesties, may I give you the report now?'

We nodded in unison and Aspen started off, 'the death count is at 65 percent dead, e have noticed that the attackers are not southern rebels but an army from another country we are yet to confirm the identification but we have identifies them as troops from New Asia.'

'Do you have any speculations as to why we were attacked?'

'We are working on that, sir.'

'Notify me if there are any updates, we need you to gather more potential guards and those of which were in training are to be promoted into palace guard.'

'Yes your majesty', he bowed and left us.

Maxon ran his hand through his hair messing it up. Although he seemed calm and put together, he was anything but. I went behind him and gave him a message since I was at lost of what to do and figured that he needed it.

'Why would New Asia attack us?', he asked to no one in particular, 'We haven't done anything, nothing special has happened recently, why now…'

I could just see the gears in his head turning as I gave him a message.

'Maxon, it's getting quite late already, let's go to bed,' fact was though that I was thinking too and there was no doubt that we would not be able to get a god night of rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again reader, here is Chapter 2 which is just slightly longer than the first chapter. The end is a little... frisky so that's my little warning. I hope to update the next chapter soon and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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 **Chapter 2**

I woke up to the persistent knock on our door. Maxon was still sound asleep so I tip-toed to over to the door where Carter stood. I glanced over to the clock and realized that it was still the wee hours of the morning.

'I'm sorry to awake you at this time but the advisors have called for a meeting.'

At this time? Really? 'Okay, we will be there as soon as we can.'

I closed the door and went back to the bed to see an awake Maxon sitting up.

'What was that all about?'

'Come on, we have to go for a meeting', I said, disappointment leaking through my voice.

He got up readily and we headed to the closet to get changed into a more suitable set of clothes.

As we neared the conference room, we could hear obvious shouting going on, 'Not again…' I thought. We entered and it was as if we were stripped from our titles, no one stood, no one quietened and they just continued shouting. I heard a deep sigh escape Maxon's mouth and I couldn't help but do the same. Sometimes I wondered if some of them grew up on a farm where I imagine a lot of shouting takes place but they all grew up in well to do houses so that was out of the question.

'I think now would be a good time to use your magic powers.' he joked.

I cracked out a smile as we took our seats at the head of the table. I heaved a sigh and spoke as loud as I could so that I was heard above all the shouting, 'Could someone tell us what's going on?'

Everyone was silenced and settled down, Anthony spoke 'We were suggesting possibilities as to why we were attacked by New Asia.'

'Alright, we can go through that in a while but Officer Leager, could you give us an update on the attack?'

'Of course you majesty, it has been confirmed that we were attacked by troops from New Asia, as to why we were attacked it is not known yet but we do know that shortly after we were attacked, some of our alliances were attacked, Italy and Germany.

The meeting went on for more than three hours as maids came and went with trays of food and refreshments. By the end of the meeting, we had decided on two possibilities, they might have just wanted to weaken our defence and try to take over or it have been a way to say that we should have a peace treaty or else they would do worse, I think that it is the latter as New Asia is already the biggest country as of now but we have to keep in mind that we were attacked along with our alliances which could mean something vital.

After the meeting, I ran into Maxon's room and flopped onto the bed. It was seven in the morning and I wanted to catch up on some much needed sleep.

'You know America, you didn't have to sit through the meeting with me if you were tired, you could've excused yourself and come in here to rest, I would fill you in you know.'

I know Maxon, but it is part of my duty to attend important meetings, besides, without me, the advisors would never have shut up.' Maxon let out a laugh that never once failed to fill me up inside. I heard the shower turn on and decided to go wash up myself. I went into my room to get ready and saw Mary already getting a bath ready for me to hop into.

'Good morning!'

'What put you in such a good mood today?'

'Oh America, seeing you and serving you always makes me happy!'

I blushed at that statement but I knew there was more. As I settled into the warm lavender scented bubble bath I called out, 'Thank you but are you sure there's nothing more?'

'America, you know me so well. I've found love!'

My heart jumped, 'Oh my gosh Mary! I'm so happy for you!' This was probably the happiest I have seen Mary yet I was so glad that she had found a partner but I couldn't really bring myself to imagining it since for as long as I had known her, she had always been single. She put my hair up into a simple bun and slight make up to cover up the pimples on my face which I guessed was from work and the recent rebel attack.

I went into my study where stacks of papers were waiting on my desk to be looked at. I gave out a sigh and looked around for Marlee. Ever since Carter and Marlee had become Maxon and my closest helpers, I quickly grew attached to them especially Marlee. I figures she had something important to do thus, I started going through the papers. After seeing a few papers, the phone on my desk started ringing.

'Hello, this is queen America from Illea speaking.'

'I am Elise from New Asia. I'm quite sure you know of the recent attack from New Asia to the palace,'

'Yes Elise,' I said with a sigh not sure of where this was going.

'Well, I'll just tell you straight up front., I called for the attack.'

'What!'

'Yeah.' I could hear guilt leaking into her voice, 'I though that attacking you would cause you to want to have a peace treaty with us …'

'I'll discuss it with Maxon. By the way, thanks.'

'No problem,' and the line was cut.

Just as I thought, they wanted a peace treaty with us, the New Asian king always had a sense of pride and would never come crawling to us for a peace treaty. I decided to tell Maxon as soon as possible since he was after all King. I got up and crossed the hallway to Maxon's study where he seemed to be talking to Marlee and Carter. He saw me walk in and gave me a small smile while Carter and Marlee greeted me with wide grins on their faces. I messaged his shoulders as I leaned in and whispered, 'Elise called, they want a peace treaty.'

'Did she say what they want in turn?'

I shook my head and took a seat beside him, on a stool that was under his desk so that I had a place to sit whenever we were going through papers together.

'So what's going on here?'

'They have some news to share but I'm not sure what it is yet.' he said as he nodded towards the couple.

Carter cleared his throat and started, 'We wanted you guys to be the first to hear the news since we wouldn't have this without the kindness from the both of you…'

'I'm pregnant!' Marlee blurted out, not able to contain her excitement.

'Marlee!', I didn't even realise that by then, I was giving Marlee a tight hug. I was overjoyed that my best friend was going to have a baby!

After a while of squealing in Maxon's room, we retreated into my study to have a longer chat since the men wanted to talk as well.

'Hey America,' she called casually.

'Yeah.'

'Have you guys actually, um, done it?'

I was dumbfounded for a second and wanted to run but there was no way Marlee was going to allow me t get away. 'I already told you Marlee, we are waiting till next year…'

'Fine, I will give you the talk later on…'

We sat at my desk and started off with some of the easy papers, I didn't want to do anything too stressful since Marlee was pregnant and I wanted her pregnancy to go well.

'You should go and take a break, Marlee.'

'I've only been working for 2 hours America, I may be pregnant but I'm not disabled, besides, I'm only 9 weeks along.'

'Alright, alright. But you have to take a break in an hour, max.'

She looked up at me with puppy eyes but later nodded solemnly when I gave her a stern stare.

At lunch time, Mary brought in a tray of food for us to munch on as we continued to work and gossip about the recent happening in the palace.

It was evening and Marlee and I were able to complete most of the work for the day so I had her have the rest of the night off and decided to do the remaining folders myself. While I was half way through the last pile, Maxon strode into the room. He cleared his throat and I looked up from y folder to see him standing there wearing a crisp suit and a cheeky smile.

'Let's go on a date.'

I raised my brows, looking at him questioningly, 'Can't you see that I still have work to do?'

He shook his head and pulled me up, 'Excuses now come on.'

I took a coat from the coat hanger as he pulled me out of the room using his strong arms. He wrapped an arm around my waist as we walked down the stairs together.

'Where are we going?'

'You'll see.'

I looked around curiously, trying to figure out where we were going. We walked into the garden, to the pavilion. On the table was a red table cloth with trays of food with wine glasses by the side.

'My love,' he said as he pulled the chair out for me to sit in.

I lifted the cover over the tray and met our dinner. Rib-eye steak with barbecue sauce and potato wedges on the side.

'Just sp you know, these were planned for Sunday but since there was an attack, it had to be post-poned.' he said with a shrug.

I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and dug into my food. After dinner, Maxon pulled me up and activated a passageway. I followed him and we were at the top of the roof once again. It was only my second time up here but so many memories were held here from the day where Maxon and I were dancing in the rain which felt just like yesterday.

'May I have this dance?'

'Of course,' I said a a smile slipped into his lips.

We swayed slowly as the calming breeze passed by as we looked over the city, our city and saw the scenic view laid out in front of us. I stared into his eyes and he ducked his head and kissed my temple. We continued dancing for a while and tater settled onto a bench. I curled up next to Maxon, one of his arms around my shoulder and holding a glass of champagne in the other. We looked up at the beautiful night sky filled with countless of stars.

'I love you, Maxon.'

'I love you more,' he put his drink aside and help my face between his hands, so that I was looking at him, and gave me a deep loving kiss.

'Let's go back now…' he said as he stood up and helped me up.

We walked back to his room, my heart thumping in my chest as a thrill ran through me.

I kneeled on the edge of the bed as Maxon stood in front of me so that we were at the same height. We started with the coats and jackets we had on, I helped unbutton his shirt, I turned around and he unzipped my dress, I unbuckled his belt, letting his pants fall to the ground and join the rest of our clothing. He pinned me down, so close, I was able to smell the little cologne that was left on him. We shuffled to the top of the bed where the pillows were and had our fun, somewhere in between, when we were under the covers, our underwear met the floor as well.

'Goodnight America.'

'It has been a good night, Maxon.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is another chapter to this 'book', I'm trying to update as often as I can but still give you guys chapters that are relatively long. This chapter contains a lot of political stuff so I hope you enjoy a more different side of America.**

 **Please excuse any spelling errors of anyone's name in this chapter.**

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 **Chapter 3**

I fanned out my light blue day dress, I haven't gotten a new dress in a while do I was happily surprised when Mary brought in a garment bag with a new dress in it. It was one with more complicated and formal designs which was great when I wanted to dress formally but didn't feel like going all out, basically today. Elise called yesterday telling us New Asia wanted a peace treaty with Illea but Maxon and I both knew that there was more to that than a simple peace treaty. However, it was not easy to concentrate as my mind replayed what has happened in the previous night over and over again in my head.

'Are you okay, miss?'

I looked up at the mirror and smiled reassuringly 'I'm fine Mary, you did a great job on my hair today.' Mary blushed as she exited the room, curtsying before she left. Mary indeed knew how to do wonders with my hair, she did a complicated braid design I had never seen before, it looked magnificent. I went over to Maxon's room to see him straitening his tie. I went in front of him to give him a hand as he left a peck on my forehead. He took my hand and we walked into one of the conference room where we would be taking a call, with the New Asia King, Maxon had set-up yesterday. I gave his hand a squeeze as we braced ourselves for the worst that could come out of the call.

Ringing… Ringing… Ringing…

'Hello, this is King Richard from New Asia.'

'Good morning, I am King Maxon from Illea and we are to discuss on a peace treaty?'

'Ah, yes. I would accept a peace treaty with your country, provided that all of your soldiers are off my land and I will do the same,'

'Done, is there anything else king Richard?'

'Yes, I want us to join forces so that we can take down Italy and Germany.'

That didn't sound right, it didn't sound right at all. Turn against our alliances for a peace treaty with New Asia? That sounded wrong all together.

'I think I and King Maxon will have to consider this, could you give us a few days and we would call you back?'

'Very well, I hope to get a positive reply.'

'What do you think?' Maxon asked Carter.

'We should give Italy and Germany a call since I'm sure they have been given the same message and we could get Richard's plan to backfire on him.'

It did look like Richard wanted to turn us against each other so that at the end of the day when we were all weak, he could take over all three countries but it seemed too obvious of a plot for Richard to pull off…'It's not that simple, Richard has thought this through, if not, we would have done this a long time ago. If we agree, we are definitely dead, but if we disagree, immediately after he would send troops to slaughter us. We should go with Richard's plan but this needs to be well planned out.' The boys nodded so I continued, 'So first thing we need to do is have a call with Italy and Germany, I could set that up and we should have one by tonight or latest tomorrow.' I announced as I walked out of my room. I had a lot on my hands and I had just added one more thing. I entered my study where Marlee was already looking through a folder.

'Marlee, could you call the Italians and Germans, set up a meeting with them, the thereof us.'

'Alright.'

I walked over to the desk and started looking through what was left of the work from yesterday. I looked through the budget schemes and reports on what has been going on around the world and signed approval letters for furniture to be replaced that was damaged due to the attack a few days ago.

'We can have the meeting with the Germans and Italians at 9 p.m.'

'Thank you Marlee.'

Not long after, Sylvia strode in with a pile of files. I looked up in dismay, looking at the work that had to be done.

'Don't worry America, these are just profiles of the guards that have been picked for duty, just look through and sign the sheet at the font.'

I sighed, happy that it was an easy job but at the same time sad since more work meant another pile on my desk.

'Hey Marlee, after you have finished with what you have, could you help me do the guards' background check?'

She gave me a nod and continued doing her work. Having Marlee around was so helpful, if she wasn't, I would have had a stranger help me out and that didn't sound very nice at all.

'You sure you don't need any more help?'

'Yes Marlee, go and enjoy yourself before we have to go for the call at 9.'

She obediently curtsied and left me alone in my study. I only had a few folders left which was great but a part of me wanted to call Marlee back in and help me out with my work but I didn't want to stress her at the same time.

8.50 rolled around and we were all seated at the conference room waiting to start the call. It was a huge relief that I had completed all of the work but anxiousness took over me as we neared the time for the call. I didn't really know the reason for my anxiousness but I guess it was quite obvious since Maxon sensed it.

'Are you alright dear?'

'No, I'm nervous but you are still not permitted to call me 'dear'.'He let out a quiet laugh which helped me relax a bit as we focused our attention back to the phone. At 9 sharp, the phone rang, it was the Italians, a few seconds later the Germans joined the call.

'I'm sure you all have been contacted by the New Asian King and have been asked to join forces with them to attempt to conquer the other two countries.'

A resounding 'yes' came from both ends of the call.

The Italians spoke first but they sounded guarded compared to their usual carefree selves, 'We think that it's a trap so that while we fight, they will sit back and watch' and later come in at the last minute to finish us off, taking over all three countries.'

'Yes, I think we should join forces and attack New Asia together.'

Everyone sounded appeased so I took the next step, 'So we can all agree to attacking New Asia, so we should start panning, the longer we take, the more King Richard is going to expect of us attacking together. So let's start out with an easy question, do we reply to King Richard?' There was a buzz coming from each end of the phone and Maxon, Carter and Marlee were also discussing behind me. I turned around and they nodded their heads telling me – yes, we should reply. I nodded my head towards the phone while looking at Maxon, telling him to take over. By now, the buzz was starting to quieten and I was starting to get worried when I heard Nicoletta's voice from the receiver.

'We think that it would be best not to reply but replying would be able to deceive them.'

'Yes, we should reply, could we know how much time each of you has asked for? We asked for about a week.'

'A few days.'

'Same here,' Maxon replied with a smile on his face. Everything was going well and smoothly.

The call went on for about an hour or so as we finalised all the details for the attack. Each of us was going to reply at different times, Illea and the Italy on the same day, the day after tomorrow, Illea in the morning and Italy late at night since we were called before the Italians. A few days later, the Germans would call in, causing the Richard to think everything was going according to his plan. At the eve before the Germans call in, the Italians were going to start shipping most of their soldiers, some of them starting from tonight in case Richard caught onto what we were doing. They were going to attack towards north while about 30 minutes later, the Germans would come in as well and later, Illea would send soldiers. When a quarter of the population was gone, we would get everyone to retreat and forty minutes later, bomb New Asia such that less than half of New Asia's current population would be alive. The soldiers are going to be in an outfit almost identical to that of Afridia's since New Asia and Afridia are distant allies.

We woke up early that morning even though we had only got to bed at 11 the previous night as the meeting with the advisers explaining the plans on the attack took longer than expected. We wanted to able to take our time and calm ourselves before we initiated the call. Right now, they already have a scheduled call with Italy but have no clue as to what their reply may be. I was enjoying my bath, trying to calm my nerves as I played with the colourful bubbles. It has been 3 days since the attack and so much has happened lately… We had been attacked by New Asia, we have a solid plan for attacking New Asia along with Italy and Germany, Marlee was pregnant, Mary had just found love and with all of that Me and Maxon also went on a date. When the water started turning cold, I climbed out of the tub, put on a robe, and went to the closet where Mary was trying to find the right dress for me.

'What do you fancy today miss?'

I walked over to the other side of the closet and went through the heaps of dresses there and found what I wanted. It was a pastel pink dress with a white silk rim at the bottom and a strip of the same thing a little farther down from my boobs. It was simple but formal at the same time. 'Could you help me put this on?' she nodded with a soft smile, happy that I had chosen one of the older dresses she had made. Maxon looked at me, smiling at the mirror as our eyes met through the reflection of the vanity mirror. Mary touched up on the make up and left the room.

'You look beautiful, my dearest.'

'You don't look too bad yourself.' I said as my cheeks turned bright red. I swept my braided hair off my shoulder as I stood up and allowed Maxon to take my hand as we walked down the hall way and to the conference room. Just as we set foot in the room, the ringing of the phone resounded through the room. Maxon practically dashed for the phone as if dear life depended on answering it which in one way or another, it was quite true. He picked it up and immediately changed it to speaker mode so that I and Carter could hear him.

'Ah, King Maxon, so you have a decision for me?'

'Yes, I think that it is indeed best that we joined forces and attempt to take over Italy and Germany together.'

'Great idea, Maxon. Let's start the planning the attack. I think it would be best for you to put on an act, so you could ask them to meet up in Germany during a party and I could be your guest of some sort and join you at the party, so that I can bring my guards that could kill all of them. Later on we can attack the other countries but this is the brief idea of what I think we should do.'

'That sounds good, let's get some of the details summarized… The time, the party we go to should be big so that I can as you to come along but small so that no one is accidentally shot…'

'Yes… I think a wedding would be best since you are allowed to bring friends but they will only invite those which are close. Say, do are any of their princes or princesses not married yet?'

'Princess Nicoletta from Italy isn't married yet.' I stated for him to consider.

'Good point Queen America, I think we shall change the venue to be in Italy then, not too big of a problem. Well I think we have done great progress on our plan, it has been a great pleasure to be able to have a peace treaty with Illea, could I come over in about a week's time to sign the papers?'

'Of course King Richard, I hope to receive a call from you soon so that we can continue to develop the plan.'

'Yes, have a good day ahead.'

The call ended and it went better than I expected. I felt such a huge weight lift from my shoulders that I practically skipped down the hallway and into my bedroom. Maxon entered shortly afterwards and gave me a hug, grinning from ear to ear as we flopped onto the bed and stared at the white wall above us. I never realised the gold detailing on the ceiling before, it looked simple yet majestic. My eyes fell onto Maxon who was staring at me lovingly.

'I love you.'

'I love you', I remembered when we were once a couple that couldn't get those words out but now, we say it almost every day. Maxon brushed his lips against mine, making me hungry for more but it was still the start of the day and we needed to wait for the right time. He got up swiftly and opened his lips like he was about to say something but later pursed them and shook his head. I tilted my head, trying to figure out what he was saying. Seconds later, he came back into my room, nothing looked different about him which made me wonder what he did in the few seconds he was in his room. I sat up and crossed my legs in front of me.

'You want to do work with me today?'

I smiled joyfully and nodded my head and I walked out of my room to get some folders from my room and entered Maxon's study. I pulled out the stool and sat beside him as I opened the folder, 'here I go again.' I thought as a new pile of work was placed on top of my head for me to balance.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone, here is another chapter on this story, it is about the same length as the previous one so I hope you enjoy this chapter, someone special dies in this chapter so I hope you like the death.**

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 **Chapter 4**

We sat at the head of the table and waited in silence. The advisers busied themselves with paperwork while Maxon and I just stared into space. The Italians had started attacking and we were waiting for some news to arrive. Maxon played with the wedding ring on my finger as Mary entered the room with some papers from our desks to work on while we waited since we estimated the attack to be a few hours long. Maxon gave out a sigh as the files were placed in front of us. We had thought earlier that the advisers would be doing some brainstorming on a topic but apparently there was nothing on their mind today, or maybe they were too nervous to open their mouths.

'The Germans are starting to attack with the Italians, the death count of our soldiers is at 112 while the death count of New Asians is at 874. The New Asians were not expecting the attack and has only just sent out troops. We have covered 23 percent out of a hundred for our aim to cover a quarter of their land.'

Maxon nodded and excused Aspen. From what I heard, things were looking good, only 35 percent of the troops have been released and we have already covered 25 percent of the land in half an hour, not forgetting the death count, I thought we were making good progress so, I just continued doing my work. Soon after, Aspen came in with another report.

'We are going to get our troops to attack now, the death count of our soldiers is at 287 while the death count of the New Asians is at 2157. New Asia has released half of its troops from the palace, the palace has less than a hundred guards there. We have covered 64 percent.'

Maxon nodded and I suddenly felt guilty, here we were sacrificing the lives of thousands of people for what? For the betterment of our country. We were killing others to help our people. It seemed wrong to me. But it was my job and only my job to care for the people living in Illea, wasn't it? The thoughts pooled in my head, piling on top one another as I had a mini debate with myself whether it was right to do what we were doing. Suddenly, I missed life back then when decisions were so easy. Nostalgia took over me so, I excused myself for a while and went into my room where I lay on my bed and thought over my life. Maxon came in shortly after, I guessed that he sensed that something was wrong.

'Hey,' he said quietly.

'Hi.'

'What's wrong?'

'I don't know.'

'Would it help if we make out?'

I heard the sincerity and hope in that statement and saw the concern in his eyes. When I didn't reply, we just went ahead and kissed me on the lips, gently and slowly such that I was able to truly absorb and take in every moment, feel all of the love he was giving me. A knock on the door put me back into reality, we were in the midst of an attack, not physically there but we were in charge. He leaped to his feet as if we did nothing but a casual chat.

'What is it Carter?'

'Aspen has another update on the attack. I think it's important.'

Maxon nodded and helped me up as we walked back to the conference room. Carter led the way and almost banged into Aspen when he walked into the room.

'The death count of New Asians is 4905 while the death count of our soldier is at 308. More than 100 percent of the land had been taken over, do you agree to start the next phase of our attack King Maxon?'

'Yes, call the troops to retreat and once everyone is accounted for, in 10 minutes later,call Italy and Germany to get ready for the bombing which will start five minutes later.'

Aspen nodded, bowed and left. I shot Maxon a look. We had decided on bombing New Asia 40 minutes before, why change it at the last minute to 15?

'I want us to get this done and dusted as soon as possible, America. Bombing them earlier will rob them of the chance to attack us or retreat.'

I nodded as the words registered in my brain, it did make sense but I felt like we had lied to the Italians and Germans but I figured that they probably understood Maxon's train of thought better than me in these kind of things and I knew this was not a place for me to decide on anything so crucial. About ten minutes later, I heard a siren, the wailing sound of the rebel alarm. Maxon pulled me out of the room and into the corridor, we ran to my room and activated the passage way to the royal safe room when a gunshot was fired. I turned around and saw, lying on the floor was Aspen with blood oozing out of chest and soaking his uniform with blood. Maxon pulled me away and pushed me into the passage way as my body started to shut down. He carried me bridal-style down the stairs and into the safe room, it would've been romantic if only there wasn't a rebel attack happening above us that was supported by the fact that my first love had just gotten shot in the chest by a rebel. I sobbed into Maxon's chest as he continued walking down the stairs. We reached the safe room and he put me gently on the bed, he crawled into bed and I snuggled up to him, crying out all the tears I had in my body. He gently brushed my hair away from my face. Slowly, my crying died down, not because I was fine again but because I had no tears left for me to continue crying. Maxon went to the cupboard to get some water for me.

Maxon POV

She cried. She has been crying for a while now and I couldn't help but let my mind wonder. Why was she crying so badly? Didn't she have me now? How could I comfort her? Her sobs started to soften so I got up to get some water for us.

'Thanks.'

She said as I passed her a bottle. I looked at her wondering how painful it was for her. I knew a similar pain from the death of my parents but I had never had a love other than America and Kriss, America being my first love whom I am married to now. I did have Daphne but there was nothing really going on between us. Behind the concern and curiosity though, I felt that strange feeling that I had first felt when I caught sight of America and Aspen together. I think it's jealousy but it was a mix of anger, sadness and feeling betrayed… Would she actually cry like this if I were the one who was shot? It felt strange to be feeling this emotion since I've never actually had to deal with it since I am part of the royal family with the power to do anything I want, have anything I want in this world. My thoughts were interrupted by the kiss on the cheek. Right then and there, all those feelings of anger, sadness, betrayal and jealousy flew away in just a second and I could only feel the immense amount of love I felt between me and America. I gave her deep kiss telling her that I was okay, that it was okay, that everything was going to be fine.

'Have they started the bombing?'

I felt lost for a second but quickly recovered by remembering that we were attacking New Asia before, who I assumed would be New Asia, was here to attack us. 'Yes, I'm quite sure they attacked us after Italy and Germany had been given the okay sign to start the bombing.' I looked at her face and saw the worry turn into relief. 'Come on, let's get some rest before we receive either the worst or the best news of our lives.' I said although I was positive it was going to be the latter.

I woke up to a kiss on the cheek. I opened my eyes and sat up on the bed and saw Carter standing at the foot of the bed.

'It is safe to go up stairs now but could I have a moment to talk to King Maxon privately before the two of you leave?'

He said looking at America. She stood up from the bed and left obediently. I could immediately tell something was wrong with her, she would usually insist on staying, why was she suddenly so beat down?

Carter caught the concern in my eyes and cleared his thought, 'Aspen is dead, I told her before you woke up,' so that was why, Aspen, 'but on a lighter note, King Richard of New Asia was killed during the bombing. Since he had no children, the Germans are currently in charge since they were the first ones to get a hold of New Asia since they were not attacked. The finalised death count of Illea's soldiers is at 121. The attack was successful and New Asia is no longer intact.'

I nodded as I took in his words, 'Thank you. Has America known any of this yet?' He nodded and left after he bowed. I walked up to my room and took in all of the damage that had been done on the palace. This was going to cost another huge sum of money for us to fix everything. We have had two attacks in a week which was a new record for the palace but at least after all of this, we would have more land, a larger population which meant that we would be receiving more earnings from taxes and that would be the end of our conflict with New Asia with no New Asia left. Something this big meant that we would have to have a _Report_ soon, updating the citizens on what has happened.

I walked into the room to see America sleeping soundly in my bed. I walked over to tuck her in and saw fresh tear marks on her face. She was so beautiful, such a beautiful creature should not have to go through such pain and suffering but there was nothing I could do, as much as I would like to have the power to revive the dead, my parents and Aspen and Shalom for America, it was beyond my ability or anyone's ability to do so. I sat on the bed and touched her skin, so soft and smooth I rubbed her hand bringing warmth to them.

In all honesty, I wanted to have a child with her and do _it_ with her for the longest time but at the same time, I wanted more time with her when she was only mine before we had someone to care for. I heard a small knock on the door and saw Marlee. I gave her a smile, 'She's asleep.' 'Oh' she mouthed as she peeked through the door to see America sleeping. I closed the door gently and she spoke,

'The Queen of Germany and the Italians are on a call right now, Carter ask me to fetch the two of you.'

'I'll go for now, tell her she can join me if she likes, I just want her to get a bit of rest.' I walked swiftly into the conference room where Carter was and picked up the phone.

'Hello.'

'King Maxon, I'm sorry to disturb you right after the attack you experienced from New Asia but could we talk about how to divide the land of New Asia?'

'Yes, I think it is only fair that we all get equal parts of land since all of us put in effort to allow one of us to take over New Asia.' I stated confidently.

'We can start with that, so right now, all three countries will get the same amount of land, now as allies, some countries do not need as much land as the other, so a country could receive slightly more land than the other since it is not crucial for the other countries to receive the land.'

'I could agree with that, Illea can claim the least amount of land since we are not in a huge need of land.' I stated since I did not feel like fighting and it would improve our relationship with the two other countries but up until now, I have not heard from the Italians which started to worry me, just as I thought that, they spoke.

'We think that Germany can have the most land since it is the smallest country out of all three.'

'Thank you King Maxon and King and Queen Cavallo. Could we meet the day after tomorrow, Monday, to get the finalised paper work signed?'

'Of course.' I replied. The Italians agreed and the call ended. I went to my room to see Marlee and America sitting at the balcony having a chat. The sky was already dark with the stars shining above us. Marlee saw me first, I guessed that she heard the door close, she told America I was here and she stood up to leave after America dismissed her. I put my tie on the bed and walked over so that I did not look too formal. I went outside and sat beside her where Marlee was sitting moments ago. She had removed her makeup, her hair was let down and she had changed into a black night gown. She was staring into the sky and with the way the moons reflected rays hit her skin, she looked absolutely beautiful. 'You're beautiful.' I whispered into her ear as I looked for her hand to squeeze. She looked at me and gave a weak smile and I took her into my arms giving her a tight hug, telling her she was okay, she was safe. I lifted her up and carried her in my arms and put her onto the bed. I crawled under the covers and lay beside her as she cuddled up next to me. Her scent wafted into my nostrils as I took in a breath before I kissed her hair. She snuggled deeper into the cover and I lowered myself as well. I kissed her and she returned my kiss before we dozed off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey readers, here is another chapter for all of you, this chapter starts out in America's point of view and their relationship gets tested in this chapter but all goes well. Any way enough of spoiling, here's the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

It has been about a week since Aspens death, a week since our attack to, the now history, New Asia and about a week since I had had an intimate moment with Maxon... There was an update on the _Report_ telling the citizens what had happened and the increase of land space which I had no interest in, all I could think about was how Aspen had died. From the moment he set foot in the palace to the day he was killed in the rebel attack, his life had always been endangered. It was almost gone a couple times, the rebel attack on the day the selection was to end, when Maxon caught sight of Aspen and me together but was gracious enough to keep him in the palace but made sure we didn't see each other often. Truth is, I had been slacking. I never thought the death of Aspen would affect me much, considering we had not communicated privately for over 6 months and that I was married with Maxon now.

'Lucy wants to see you, do you want to let her in?'

I nodded to Marlee from my desk and stared back down at my set of papers which I had been looking at for an hour now. Lucy walked in, there were obvious bags under her eyes and she curtsied to me before walking over to me, sitting across from me.

'America, I know this is of short notice but could I come back and work under you again?'

I was ecstatic but I knew why she wanted to come back, with Aspen no longer around, she had nothing to do and more importantly, she was not receiving any income since she had resigned from being my maid earlier as she wanted to focus on having a family with Aspen but with him gone, she had nowhere else to turn to except for the palace. Mary was currently my only maid with some others in training working behind her, having Lucy to help her out would be great for her since they have worked for me together before. 'Yes Lucy, you are welcomed with open arms to work here again.' I said, smiling graciously at her, 'When do you want to start?'

'I can start tomorrow.'

'Alright.', 'Marlee, could you help me get Lucy registered as a maid under me? Tell them that it is the Queen's order.' Marlee nodded and walked out of the room as Lucy followed behind her, knowing that Lucy was getting better was assuring but I didn't know if I was. I tried to get my mind off things by focusing on my work, allowing me to complete more than three stacks of work. When Marlee came back in at early evening, she looked at my table wide eyed.

'Wow,' she gasped softly to herself.

I gave her a smile as she came and sat in front of me. She was not supposed to be doing work at this time so we had a little chat. I hadn't had a casual chat with anyone for a while now and having Marlee talking to me was a nice change for the week. Yes, I did socialise with others at the ceremony where we mourned for all the soldiers we had lost during the battle and New Asia rebel attack where I talked to Aspens mother and a few parents' and spouses of those who were lost that day but that was more of grieving and sympathising with others while talking to Marlee was like a breath of fresh air, talking as if nothing had happened. As we were talking about some gossip going around the palace, I heard a word slip from Marlee's mouth.

'I also heard that Maxon… No I meant I heard that the kitchen staff has been working on a new recipe'

It is true that the kitchen staff are working on a new recipe, I permitted them too but, 'What is it that you were going to say about Maxon?' She took in a deep breath and I was starting to have the impression that this was something bad about me.

'I and many of the maids and guards have seen Maxon up on the roof top lately ranting about something.'

'What is it?'

She sighed and continued, 'Many say they heard something along the lines of you not giving time to him anymore, I heard him say that he just wished to have you back before his death.'

I thanked Marlee and dismissed her as I could feel a big explosion coming on. I could see the worry and concern in her eyes so I gave her the best fake smile I could muster before going exiting the study and into my room. I let myself fall onto the bed, I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. I felt guilty for not giving Maxon any time with me but there was nothing much different, we just didn't spend time fooling around and went straight to bed. Why couldn't he understand that I needed time to recover from one blow after another, first my dad and now Aspen. It just seemed like I had so many feelings to handle that I just needed time to recover and move on.

Maxon POV

I saw Marlee walking down the hallway with her head hung low and knew something was up. When she saw me walk up to her, fear was shown in her eyes and it looked like she wanted to run but she kept herself from doing that. She curtsied deeply and was about to walk away when I held her back and spoke.

'What happened?'

'She has heard that you want to spend more time with her and that you want her old self back, before Aspen died.'

I nodded and let her be on her way, she had heard, of course she had, no news can be kept in this home of ours, if only I had been softer when venting out my rage and frustrations at the roof top. I prepared for the screaming I was about to hear from America, and all of those accusations I was about to hear. This was really only our first fight from our marriage till now, I am still quite surprised since I expected to be fighting with her once every few months from what happened during the selection.

I knocked on the door softly and opened the door when there was no reply, I rarely knocked on any doors since most of the time I would just walk into my room, as it was _my room_ and America was usually in my room and not hers. I opened the room and saw America staring at the door and looking straight into my eyes as if she was for certain that it would definitely be me walking through the door. I could see subtle tear stains on her face and went over to sit on the bed. 'What's wrong?' She looked at me as if I was crazy and I already knew what was going to happen.

'Maxon, I know you want time with but I need time myself.'

'I know, I have been giving you time, from our experiences, I have been giving you time since the first day we met!'

'Then why did you say you want to have more time with me! I need to heal, can't you understand! You probably can't since no love of yours has ever died!'

That was it. I walked out and left her in there.

'Maxon I didn't mean it.' I heard her say.

I knew she didn't, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing but how dare she say that, my parents died in a rebel attack! How could she say that, after the months of healing together, it all just came back. I slumped on my chair and put my face in my hands so that no one would see the tears streaming down them. I missed them so much and this fight just made me miss them even more. Oh I wished they were still around so that I could go and get a hug from Mom and advice from Dad but I couldn't, they were gone.

I heard the door close, 'Maxon I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier, I'm just really depressed with Aspen's passing. I'm sorry, I will try to get better quickly.' She said as she came over and kissed my hair. I looked up at her with my tears blurring my vision. She knelt down beside me and gingerly wiped the tears away and kissed my lips with my face cupped between her hands. She left the room and came back moments later as I tried to recover myself.

'We are having dinner here tonight, alone.' She said as she walked over and pulled me out of my seat and escorted me into my room. We changed into our pyjamas and sat on the lounge chairs at the balcony with the evening Angeles breeze passing by as we watched the sun descend from the clouds and onto the horizon. The door soon opened and dinner was served, clam chowder with bread on the side and spaghetti as the main dish. We ate silently as time passed and soon enough it was time for bed. We placed the dirty dishes on the tray and placed it outside our door. As I brushed my teeth, America walked in and casually started a bath, before I could ask any questions, she said,

'Would you fancy taking a bath with me, Maxon?'

I hopped on that idea and as soon as she had stripped down and settled into the tub, I did the same. She came over and put some foam in my hair and started messaging my head, humming softly to herself. 'Could you sing to me love?' She looked at me questioningly but went ahead anyway. I had rarely heard her sing and it was like a treat whenever she did. Her melodious and perfectly tuned voice brought the lyrics to life, my favorites were the classical pieces where she would sing while playing the piano, the notes where long and well connected which really brought out her voice. She seemed truly happy when she sang and I felt bad at times that I had robbed her of being a carefree and happy 5 singing and enjoying herself but then again, the castes would be gone soon so that would not last long…

'How was that?'

'Beautiful, as always.' She blushed a deep red as she kissed me on the cheek. We quickly washed up and got to bed. I led America to the bed and she snuggled up to me, I wrapped an arm around her and brushed my lips against hers. She quickly accepted it and soon enough, we were furiously kissing one another on the bed and for some reason, I felt a tingling sensation and a huge urge to undress her. I was supposed to be gentlemen though but this was the bed so I just went with it. I pulled down the zipper and flung away the dress. She looked shocked at first but continued and reached down for my top to pull it up. This was a little unusual for us since we typically did the undressing while standing but this was fine too. I searched for the covers and threw the covers over our heads as my pants slipped off of my legs. A few seconds later we were stripped, entirely naked and we kicked all of our clothing off the bed and went into a frenzy of touching and kissing. Out of all the things that I thought was going to happen today, this was the last thing on my mind.

I woke up to the sound of a knock on the door and a groan from America shortly after. It was almost time to get up so I got up, put on a robe and rushed to the door. It was Marlee.

'I was wondering if America is awake,'

'She is still asleep I'm afraid.'

'Well could you help me tell her that her maid Lucy is already here?'

Lucy? She must have asked to come back and work for America after his death. I nodded and headed back to the bed. I placed a series of kisses on her, from her lips to the sides of her face, her forehead and back to her lips. She smiled as I moved back a little to have a better look at the beauty in front of me. Her eyelids moved up to reveal her crystal blue eyes.

'Come on, let's get ready.' She practically sprang out of bed and made a beeline for the closet to change. I followed her in suit and changed into more casual clothes since today was Sunday. We walked hand in hand as we walked to the conference room. The conference room was quiet though which was strange knowing the advisors. All of their eyes perked up when they saw us walking in together. Had the gossip really spread so fast? I pulled out America's seat for her and settled into mine. 'So what is there to discuss?' I asked the group as they continued to stare at us with gapping mouths.

'They should really keep their mouths shut, it could be the home to a nearby fly.' She whispered letting out a soft laugh at her joke. I laughed along quietly as the advisors wrecked their brains for a problem we should solve or an opinion on something.

'Your Majesties, I have actually have an update here on how the eights are absorbing into the other castes,' I nodded telling him to go ahead, 'well, it looks like almost all of them have been absorbed, I think that we can go ahead with the next phase of the demolition of the castes.'

Everyone in the room agreed, even America, but Steven shook his head, 'We shouldn't push the people, it has only been 3 months since we have started this process. I think we should take it easy before we go too far and the economy falls.'

He did have a point but I wasn't too sure so I the advisers to vote.

'Alright then, we will carry out phase two of the demolition of castes in about a week or so. You are all dismissed.'

We watched the stand up and leave one by one and America was about to leave as well when I held her back. 'Hey, let's not work out today. I have different plans for today.' I pulled her along to my room and sat on the couch opposite my bed where she was sitting.

'What's up?'

I bit my lip as I had no idea how she was going to react, 'Can we do _it_ soon, not that I want to rush but I just feel like we are ready to have a child now that everything is going to be stable and all with New Asia gone.' I looked at her trying to see what she was thinking. After a long minute, she nodded. What was that supposed to mean? 'So, is that a yes?'

'Yes Maxon, it is a yes but first, I think Marlee wants to have a talk about me doing _it_ so perhaps not too soon? But within this year.'

'Thank you America,' I said as I walked over to give her a kiss. This was great, I would be pronounced as future father in at most 4 months, the series of holidays were coming soon so there would be many significant chances for it to happen and I was beyond excited for Halloween, The Masquerade party, Christmas and New Years would be near then too. The future ahead looked blissful with promising years to come and I was happy to spend my next chapter in life with the love of my life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone, sorry this chapter took a while to post but in this chapter we see America doing some 'Queen work' but I hope this is not too boring for you. Anyway, happy reading.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Last folder for the day - 'Halloween'. Halloween! It had completely slipped my mind. I glanced at the calendar. Five days. I had five days to plan a party in the palace and 35 others to be held in each province. No wonder I had so few folders today… I looked at the clock, noon. Marlee had gone to a check up with Carter and was supposed to be back by now but I went ahead and started with the guest list for the people to be invited t the palace since that was the easiest and I could use the references from other parties held this year. It felt as if I had been queen for years now but it had only been half a year. I was just about done when Marlee walked in.

'Marlee I'm glad you're here, we have so much to do.'

'But you only have one folder left?'

'Yes, and we have to plan 36 Halloween parties including the one held in the palace.'

'Oh, I guess I spoke too soon.'

'Yeah, but how's the baby? Do you know its gender yet?'

'America, I'm 12 weeks we need to wait till I'm 20 weeks. You seem more excited than me!'

Just as those words left her tongue, she dashed for the toilet and puked. 'Gross…' I thought but I knew I would be experiencing it soon when I get pregnant. I helped Marlee clean up and get a glass of water as she sat on the floor beside the toilet bowl.

'Sorry.' She said as I handed her a glass of water.

'Marlee. It's fine. You can come and help out once you feel better okay?'

She nodded and mouthed thank you before I left. I finished up the guest list and started on the dishes that are to be served at all the parties. Marlee came back and worked on the food for the parties in the provinces while I started on the food for the party at the palace. I put in some traditional dishes from the countries that were coming, some familiar dishes that were usually served and added in a few newer ones so that they would not expect the same food over and over again which would be repetitive.

We finished up most of the party planning for the parties and were only left with the entertainment and decorations for the party at the palace. Luckily Silvia had helped out, allowing us to complete most of the planning in a day, and I was allowed to dismiss Marlee in the evening. Lucy came in with my dinner tray and Maxon behind her holding his. Mary set mine on my desk in front of me and Maxon sat in front of me and placed his on the table as well. I nodded to Lucy as she curtsied and exited. 'So what's this?'

He shrugged, 'I just wanted to spend more time with you.' He said as he lifted the lid off my food and kissed me on the cheek. On the plate was some fried rice that was in the form of a heart shape and little heart shaped carrots to go along with it.

'You are so sweet Maxon.'

'I know.'

We ate our food and talked about some things that were happening. Nothing much has been going on ever since New Asia was taken down, everything was just quiet and peaceful. We talked about the demolition of castes since we had just started phase two yesterday. We were planning on going to a few school openings to appease the people and we also needed to work on building more hospitals and clinics for the people from the lower castes so that everyone would be able to have medical attention. We were also starting to work on getting things to be more affordable, for example, school, medicine, food, and other basic needs so that people from the lower castes would be able to survive with their jobs that may pay them poorly. After a while of 'nation talk', Maxon asked.

'What are you wearing for Halloween?'

'Hmm, I'm not too sure yet, I haven't got the chance to discuss it with May and Lucy yet. What are you wearing?'

'I don't know yet. I want to match up with you'

'Why not we call in Mary and Lucy to help us with that, I'm sure they have many couple ideas.'

'That's a good plan,' he said before calling for Mary and Lucy who appeared in a matter of seconds. Their faces were filled with worry which puzzled me. It dawned upon me that they were probably frightened since they were called for by the King so I gave them a reassuring smile which helped relax them a little more.

'America and I do not have costumes yet for the Halloween party. Could you two help us brainstorm some costume ideas such that we are matching.'

A wave of relief swept over their faces and they took a seat on the couch in front of us.

'We have been talking about it and we actually have a few draw ups on some of the stuff you two could wear. Would you like us to go down to…?'

Maxon cut Mary and suggested, 'We could go down to take a look at them if that is fine with you.'

I was a little surprised at how enthusiastic Maxon was to get matching Halloween costumes for the both of us, I just smiled and went along with them. Even Mary and Lucy were pleasantly surprised. We went down the stairs to Mary and Lucy's headquarters, the queen's maids' living area. I had never really gone down to the maids' quarters but they looked similar to those of the guards. We entered their room and were welcomed by a room about as big as my current room. There were three beds at one side, a toilet on the other and a huge wooden table with a magnetic board on top with sketches of dresses. There was a huge cupboard beside the desk which I assumed was for the cloths and 3 pairs of bedside tables and three chests of drawers for the three maids I was supposed to have. I realised that me being queen was very fortunate for them, although they had more work than the other maids, they had much better living conditions. The room also reminded me that I should be getting another maid soon. We walked over to the large wooden table and I caught Maxon looking around the room. 'What is he thinking about?' I thought to myself. On the large table, Mary and Lucy sorted out a few pieces and placed them in front of us those of which they had been working on for Halloween. There was a set of pirates but Maxon had already done that last year. There was one based on the New Asia royals and another one which was a cowboy and cowgirl. Maxon picked it up and a smile grew on his face. I would be in a dress with jean material for the top and it would be white at the bottom with a wide brown belt in between, I would wear knee high boots as well as the signature cow girl hat. 'This one's amazing.' I whispered to him. He nodded and handed the sheet to the girls.

'This one would do, could you make sure there is a zipper for her dress, I don't want to accidentally ruin it.' He said his voice going sly sending my cheeks burning red.

The maids caught on but just smiled and Lucy let out a giggle as we exited the room and went back to Maxon's 'Maxon…' I said as I closed the door behind me and he flipped onto the bed.

'What did I do?' he said in an innocent voice.

I sighed and just snuggled up to him when a resounding growl was heard. Maxon blushed and I pulled him up for a kiss. 'Let's grab a bite to eat. Come on.' I said and we went down to the kitchen to get some food. Many of the kitchen helpers were surprised to see us down here, I guess we were surprising many today.

'Supper?' Kelly, the head chef, called out.

I nodded and a younger chef put some bowls in front of us and Kelly lifted the pot she was watching and poured some hot chicken soup into our bowls. The soup was anything but mouth-watering.

I was brainstorming ideas on the decorations for the palace with Silvia. Marlee was late today, I was a little worried but thought nothing much of it. The main colours that were to be used are orange and black. We were planning to add orange and black cloths beside the table and a Halloween themed table cloth with some carved pumpkins to be placed at the corners of the table. We were also considering changing up some of the food to make them look scarier but instead, we decided it would be best to just make the trays and bowls containing the food look scary, draw spider webs and spiders along the rim of bowls, add mini pumpkins on the trays to surround the food.

Marlee walked in late morning and immediately darted for the toilet. I dismissed Silvia for a while and asked her to get the decorations ready as I wanted to aid Marlee. She was still throwing up when I saw her. I knelt down behind her and rubbed her back as she leaned toward the toilet bowl. I pulled her hair out of her face as I looked at her worriedly. She nodded to tell me she was done and I helped her up onto the couch, I got her a glass of water and cleaned the toilet up a bit.

She was still looking unwell, 'Have you seen Doctor Ben about it?' She shook her head guiltily. I sighed and continued, 'Marlee, you have the rest of the day off but I am giving you strict orders to see Ben.'

'But America…'

'No, Marlee. There isn't much work for today anyway, I'll be fine. 'She quickly left and I went back to my table and thought of what entertainment possibilities I could have. Well I could sing but that wouldn't last long… We always had the palace orchestra, maybe I would just go back to that. I opened the drawer and looked for a few past parties' entertainment. Most of them were just performances by the palace orchestra. Maybe I would just sing a song or two for the party, I thought and jotted down the notes for Silvia. I called for Silvia and passed her the planning sheet. She skimmed through it and stopped for a while. She looked at the words and then at me.

'Are you sure you want to perform?'

I felt a little betrayed, how could she look down on me? 'Yes.' I huffed. She quickly curtsied and left with her head hung low. I looked through the two other folders for the day which were simple budget schemes and updates on the demolition of castes. I placed the completed files aside and went into Maxon's study. He was just relaxing on his arm chair with closed eyes. I snuck up quietly to him and kissed him on the lips. Suddenly his eyes flew open as he wrapped his arms around me and put me on his laps as if I was a little girl. He nuzzled my hair and ever so slightly left a kiss in my hair. We walked over to his bedroom and settled on the lounge chair at the balcony and we looked over the garden.

'We should do this more often.'

'Yeah.' We spent the rest of the day together. Although it was a Wednesday, we had nothing much to do since everything was pretty much done and dusted. We talked to each other for most of the day, we went to the music room for me to practice the pieces I wanted to perform on Halloween and went to the gym for a little while. It felt like we were living in a fairytale since we had no work to do. At the end of the day, Maxon and I took a bath together. It was then when we felt like we just couldn't take it anymore. For the whole day, Maxon and I had tried to control ourselves from doing anything 'dirty' or as others would say 'socially unacceptable'. Now, we were in a bath together, with no one around to stop us and conveniently already naked. Maxon trailed his fingers to my breasts and I trailed my fingers along his back which was home to the multiple slashes he took for me. He seemed to be a little taken aback but allowed anyway. I gently stroked the scars along his back which I had once dressed. He moved his touch to my bullet wound and I moved mine to his which was on his chest. It was obvious that he had taken many more hits for me than I have for him but we both knew that we loved each other deeply and that was all that mattered. We washed off the bubbles and dried ourselves. This time, we just went straight to the bed. This time, there was a long kissing session, he breathed heavily against by chest as the kisses got vigorous. We no longer felt shy to express our fondness for one another, we enjoyed our time together.

'I want to do it tomorrow.'

I nodded and gave him one last kiss before we gave in to sleep. I woke up the next morning to Maxon's lips on mine. I pushed him away playfully and got ready for the day. Mary put me in a new dress, I guess that since Lucy was here to help her now, I would get more new clothing. It was a light grey day dress with a simple design. Lucy put my hair up in a braid-bun while Mary helped me with my makeup. I walked into my study to see my breakfast tray, Maxon, Marlee and Carter. I felt a little small being late but we did not set up anything for with them the day, so I felt like something was off. I joined Maxon at the couch as Marlee and Carter greeted me. 'What's happening?' I whispered to Maxon.

'Please don't kill me,' He said, I started getting scared, what did he do? What happened? Did someone die? Maxon cleared his throat to clear our minds and began, 'So… a few weeks ago, the two of you have asked us about doing _it_ , we first told you that we would only be doing it next year, however, we have a change of plans, since the two of you have wanted to talk to us privately, I thought now would be the best time, by the way, this is not supposed to be formal,' he added casually. Marlee squealed with excitement.

'Let's go to the Women's room, I think it would be most appropriate for us to talk about this there.'

I followed her along the corridor and we entered the Women's room. It was rarely used after The Selection and I almost never came in here. Marlee took a seat at the table we used to sit at together during the selection, I took a seat opposite her and she looked at me wearily,

'So what would you like to know?'

Well this was awkward, I was never good at putting myself out there and this was just uncomfortable to talk about but I was quite glad to be having this chat with Marlee and not my mom or Kenna since that would be a lot more awkward.

'I don't know what should I know?'

'You are a virgin right?'

'Of course,' I thought hard for a question that wouldn't sound too stupid but there were only the same few questions, 'What is _it_ exactly?' I asked.

Marlee gave a sigh, 'I suppose I should tell you, basically _his_ will be stuck into _yours_.'

'How does it feel?'

'It may get a little uncomfortable at first but it gets better, it will feel really exhilarating when he goes all out and after that, it feels really good, anything else?'

'No, I think that's it. Thanks Marlee.' She smiled and we left the room together. With all this information in mind, I couldn't wait till tonight where I would actually do it with Maxon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, here is a brand new chapter. I have finally decided to add a new character so that would be fun to develop. BY the way, chapters will be coming out a little slower since I am going to be busier and the chapters are going to be at least 3,000 words long, anyhow, I hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Mary and Lucy helped me get ready for the Masquerade party, I looked down at my beautiful, elegant green dress Mary and Lucy made for me. My stomach knotted and I felt the urge to puke. Before I knew it, I was hovering over the toilet bowl letting out all the contents of my lunch into the toilet. Luckily my hair was already done and out of my face but my make up was not spared. Mary rubbed my back as Lucy got me a glass of water. When I was done, I sat on the floor, worn out. Mary and Lucy looked at me worriedly, but I couldn't figure out why. Everything was fine with me, except I may have felt tired more often and I'm puking now... And I am almost two weeks late! 'I'm fine, let's try to get my makeup done now.' I said as calmly as possible, while I sat on the chair, but inside I was freaking out. Was I really pregnant? It seemed impossible to me. I was only seventeen! But then again, mum got pregnant with Kota when she was seventeen too so I guess I am fine. Mary finished up my makeup and I walked into Maxon's room. I wanted to spit out that I was pregnant so badly but it wasn't confirmed yet so I didn't want to get his hopes up, just in case. He was standing at his balcony looking at the beautiful clouds hanging over on the Angeles sky. I walked towards him and hugged him from behind. He looked at me surprised but composed himself and gave me a sweet kiss. We walked down the stairs together and we were welcomed by our guests. The masquerade party looked almost identical to Halloween party held last month. Everyone was dressed differently with masks on instead of costumes for the Halloween party. I skimmed the room and found Nicolletta's darker skin tone, smooth brown hair and petite figure. I walked over to her as she took another sip of wine. 'Why you look lovely.' I started.

'Thank you, you look wonderful as well America.'

'Thank you Nicolletta.' I chirped happily. We continued to talk for a while before I moved on to greet the representatives from Swendway, France and Germany, also known as The German Federation, and thanked them for attending the party. The Germans talked about being allies with Afridia which is near to where New Asia used to be. This could give us a new opportunity to have a new ally which would be great. 'I have to remember to discuss this with Maxon,'I thought. Once I was done with my 'Queen duties', I looked around for Marlee and saw her standing by the back of the roomwith Carter hugging him tightly. I gave Carter the day off since all guards off duty were allowed to attend the party and I wanted to give them some time together. I decided to give them alone time with Marlee pregnant and all, their days alone were numbered although they still had time. I walked over to stand by Maxon's side where he was talking to the King and Queen from Swendway. They seemed to be talking about some serious stuff, a new trade agreement they wanted, I suppose, which I had no interest in. Over the months, Maxon and I have developed a plan. I would be the one who makes friends with our allies and Maxon will do the technical trade agreements and such. I liked it since the royals were usually nice people and easy to make friends with. Eliza's face lit up when she saw me walk over. She whispered something to her husband and walked over to me. We stood at the side of the room near the buffet table and started chatting.

'Thank you so much America, their talk about trade is killing me!'

'I can tell,'I chuckled,'what are they on about anyway.'

She looked at me, surprised,'It's something about about stocks and businesses, I don't really remember. The whole time I was just trying to get out of there!'

I let out a huge grin,' No problem Eliza, glad that I could help, those kill me too.' We continued talking about other things like the pain of signing budget sheets and long meetings and we added little bits of our lives into the conversation as well. Maxon and George eventually walked over and took our hands.

'My love,' he said as he bowed and gave me a hand to hold onto.

I took it and we swayed gently on the dance floor, the music slowed and we started nearing each other. Every millimeter we got closer, the more I wanted to rip out his suit and get in bed with him but that would definitely not be socially acceptable if what we were doing was already 'going too far' which was why I liked to give Silivia the rest of the day off after the party was settled since she would definitely be ticked off by us.

I woke up to the sound of Maxon's steady heartbeat. It was a little before 8 but I wanted to start the day earlier so that I could meet with Dr. Ben. I stepped onto the cold bathroom floor and stripped down for a quick shower. Mary and Lucy seemed surprised to see me already showered and dressed when they came in, I couldn't blame them since they usually came before I was even awake. They did my hair quickly and applied minimum makeup on my face so that I looked presentable and let me go on my way. Maxon was still asleep so I asked them to leave the room quietly once they were done cleaning the slight mess I made with the soap in the bathroom. I walked down the stairs headed for the hospital wing. The place was the exact same as I remembered when I saw the injured guards about a month ago after the New Asia attack. I walked down the row of beds and went into the head doctor's, Dr. Ben's, office. I knocked on the door twice and heard a 'Come in.'from behind. The door creaked slightly as I opened the heavy wooden door and slipped inside. Ben looked surprised to see me but went straight to business.

'What's wrong, your highness?'

'I have been feeling nauseous and am tired easily lately, could you maybe give me a diagnosis?'

'Ahh.' he said, seeming to catch onto what I was saying, 'Is your monthly visitor late?'

'Two weeks.' I said as I nodded.

'Alright, I'll have to do a blood test to confirm that so why don't you come and sit here.'

I blushed a little considering how ridiculous I looked just standing there, I swiftly sat on the wooden chair as he prepped the needle for extracting some blood. He put a wet cotton pad over an area of my arm which I guessed had antiseptic. I looked away as the cold sharp needle pierced through my skin and blood was drawn. After a few seconds, the pressure on my arm died down as the needle was removed. He cleaned off the little blood pool that had formed and put it into a zip-lock bag.

'Thank you, you may go now, you may come tomorrow for the results.'

'Thank you.' I said as I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. I checked the clock above the main hospital wing door, it was 5 minutes past 8. I dashed up the stairs to my study and felt a little light headed as I reached the third floor. I walked into my study to find a missing Marlee.

'Over here.'

She called out from the toilet. She had been puking less but there were still these occasions. She was almost done cleaning up so I gave her a smile and went over to the desk to start working when I recalled Afridia. I entered Maxon's study and he looked up at me and gave me a smile.'The Germans were telling me yesterday about Afridia and being allies with them, what do you think?'

He considered my words carefully,'It would be nice to have another ally, very well, we could host a reception for them some time soon, maybe in a month or so but not too soon. I'll leave the rest to you, my darling.'

I gave him a nod and went back to my study to find a good date for a reception. In January would be good since there was nothing else other then the New Year's Party. Late January. Marlee passed me her completed folder and took another one of the stack.

'Are there any upcoming events other than Christmas and New Years'?'

'Well, there is Maxon's birthday in February.'

I ducked my head down and let out an 'Okay'. Up until now, I had not known about Maxon's birthday, I felt so foolish and embarrassed and just as that thought went through my head, Maxon walked in.

'How are you doing ladies?' he said in a posh accent, 'Carter is waiting for you at the infirmary for your check up.'

Marlee blushed slightly giving us a deep curtsy before she went down to the hospital wing, closing the door behind her. 'You came here just to tell that to Marlee?' I asked.

'No, I just wanted to have lunch with you.'

I looked up at the clock and realized that it was almost lunch time. I smiled at him and gave him a kiss, the trays of food soon arrived and the aroma of the food wafted into my nostrils. I looked at my folder as I ate and discussed certain topics with Maxon. After eating lunch, we cleaned up and *I continued working on the folders on my desk. Around evening time, Marlee came back to the study, clearly exhausted. 'What have you been up to?' I asked.

'Waiting in line to get a check up, and climbing up the stairs.' She said as she tried to steady her breathing.

'Why did you run up, Marlee?'

'I didn't, I swear, I was walking up the stairs at the speed I used to, I kind of forgot I was pregnant for a moment I guess...'

I laughed at her, shaking my head as I put the last folder of the day down on top of the pile of completed folders, 'Well, there was no point in coming up at all since I'm done.'

'No way. You can't do this to me America.'

'Of course I can,'I started, 'but I'm not going to, you are having dinner with me.' She looked at me thankfully as if I had just saved her life or from a devil of some sort, I guess the stairs were a bit of a devil but still. 'Stay here while I ask someone to bring up some food.' Marlee nodded as I left the room. There were no maids around and only a few guards making their rounds. I decided to wander for a bit until I saw a maid or butler. I walked down the stairs to the second floor which seemed deserted since there were no guests currently at the palace. As I rounded the corner, a maid bumped against me causing both of us to fall onto the carpeted floor. I picked myself up quickly as she gathered her things. I gave her a hand to help her up and noticed that she was carrying around a box of first aid kits. She took my hand and stood up, she gave me a glance to see who I was and her face turned as white as a sheet. At this moment, I was just smiling softly but she seemed so frightened, 'she must be new here,' I thought.

'I'm so sorry your majesty...'

'It's fine, what's your name?'

'Oh um... My name is Paisely.'

'So, Paisely could you send two trays of dinner up to my study, for me and Lady Marlee. Thank you.' She nodded shyly, curtsied and left. As I walked up the stairs, I started considering Paisely as my third maid. Mary, Lucy and Paisely - that sounded nice, she was a little timid though but then again, all my maids were shy at first. I finally reached the top of the flight of stairs which led me to have a shortness of breath. I caught my breath for a moment and went to the room. Just as I was about to turn the door knob, the door flung open to reveal Marlee's face which had worry written all over but was washed with a sense of relief when she saw me.

'What took you so long?'

'Sorry, there aren't many maids or butlers around...' I said as we went to my desk.

'I'm just joking, I was just getting bored and impatient, I may have a baby in me but it can't entertain me much right now like you do.'

I gave her a smile and was about to say something when a knock came from the door, it was Paisely with two trays of food. She placed them down on the table gently and went off after curtsying.I lifted the covers of the food for us and was welcomed by steamy hot cream based pasta with mushroom soup and a strawberry tart. I gobbled down the food taking in all of the flavors from the food. I heard the door creak open and saw Maxon walk in. He seemed a little surprised in a bad way when he saw me eating dinner with Marlee but recovered easily although you could see the disappointment in his eyes. He walked over to stand in front of me, Marlee looked a little shadowed but continued with her food.

'Carter has asked for Marlee to be dismissed earlier today.'

I smiled easily, 'She is already dismissed. Marlee you can leave once you finish.' Marlee nodded seeming a little embarrassed by Carter being so protective over her. Maxon left after hearing my answer still looking a little down. We finished up quickly with a little small talk and we went our own ways. Marlee left the study and I stayed behind a little while to clean everything up. I walked into Maxon's study to find him missing, 'This is odd,' I thought, Maxon was almost always in his study at this time. I peeked into his room but he was not there either, from the balcony I looked down at the garden but no one was there other than a couple of guards and maids. Out of the blue, my stomach felt queasy and I dashed to the toilet. I knelt over and threw up some watery waste, digested mushroom soup. In a matter of seconds, I felt someone rubbing my back and taking my hair out of my face. It was not a lot of vomit so I was done in a few minutes. I turned around and met Maxon's concerned eyes. My body deflated as I leaned against the wall, Maxon flushed the toilet and got a wet towel, he gingerly whipped of the remaining vomit off my face and handed me a glass of water before washing the cloth. He helped me up and we settled on the balcony.

'How are you darling?'

'I'm better now, I was finding you when I felt nauseous.' I said although I still felt unwell.

'Oh' he mouthed as he leaned back onto the chair, 'I was in the kitchen eating.' he said guilty, 'When I came back to my room I saw you whiz into the bathroom. I'm worried about you America.'

'I already said I'm fine.'

'No. We are seeing Doctor Ben, now.'

'Now? Maxon... Could we go tomorrow morning?' I said giving him puppy eyes.

'Alright, alright, first thing in the morning we are going to the hospital wing to get you checked out.'

I heaved a sigh of relief, this was great. I didn't have to sneak out to go to the infirmary now and Maxon would be with me to receive the news of if I was pregnant or not. I told Maxon I was tired and would like to go to bed earlier which he excepted graciously. I called for Mary and Lucy whom came to my room together. They undressed me and helped me into a night gown, Mary was removing my makeup and Lucy was putting my hair in a simple fishtail braid as I decided it was time to bring up Paisley.

'What do you think of Paisely?' I asked. Mary and Lucy's face turned white.

'Did she do something wrong? She's new at her job, please go easy with her.'Mary said with genuine concern.

I was taken aback, I had never wanted to hurt any of the staff here before, why would they think I was cross with her? 'She had done nothing wrong, I was just considering to have her as my third and last maid.' Mary and Lucy immediately grinned with relief.

'Thank you so much America!'

'No problem.' I said but I was a little puzzled as to why they seemed so happy, 'Are you two related?' I blurted out. They looked at each other worriedly and there was silence for a while.

'Paisley is our close friend, Me and Paisley grew up together in the palace.'

'Paisley actually introduced me to Mary, the three of us are very close and we are usually with her whenever we are not with you. With Anne gone, she is the one to help us with needle work as she is best in that area.' I nodded as Lucy told me more. 'She usually helps guards and maids with their uniforms but has recently been promoted to palace maid since now is around the time when older maids decide to retire, thus, you might start seeing a few new faces.'

I nodded understandingly as I took everything in. 'Alright girls, thank you for tonight, you may go now and please do not tell Paisley about this, I want it to be a surprise.' They giggled a little as they left the room and I entered Maxon's room ready to goo to bed. I snuggled under the covers beside Maxon when he suddenly pounced on me like a cheetah, I kicked him off me.

'What was that for?' he said disappointingly, I had never really rejected him before and I felt a little guilty doing so.

'I'm not feeling well today, maybe tomorrow alright?' He nodded sadly and slid down beside me. I stared up at the ceiling as Maxon drifted into sleep ...


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone, I apologize for the long wait but here is another update, hopefully I can have the next chapter up soon but for now, here is this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Maxon squeezed my hand as we walked down to the hospital wing. It was quite early in the morning since Maxon insisted that I see Doctor Ben before our meeting. We stepped into the cold infirmary and went to see Doctor Ben in his office. Doctor Ben's face lightened as we entered the small room.

'I have been expecting you two.' he started as Maxon and I took our seats.

'Oh, well America hasn't been feeling well...'

'Yes, she is a primigravida.' Maxon's eyes widened and he shot me a look, I had no idea what that meant so I raised my brow.

'You're pregnant.' Maxon whispered loudly with excitement.

Oh. So this was happening. I was going to be a Mom! 'How far along am I ?'

'Four weeks your majesty, congratulations,'he said as he put the stack of papers back in the folder,'Could I see you later today America, I want to do a few check ups on you first.'I nodded and we were allowed to leave. I was elated, Maxon was clearly excited too, possibly even happier than I was but he stopped dead in his tracks before we exited the hospital wing.

'We cannot tell anyone about the baby until after you are twelve weeks. Your maids can know but other than the four of us'

'Five,'I cut in quickly,'I am getting another maid.'

'Alright, the five of us are the only ones who are allowed to know until you are five weeks. Not even Marlee understand.'he added in a serious tone. Marlee, I couldn't even tell her yet.

I nodded slowly and we left for the meeting room. Maxon seemed to walk a little slower and really slowly when walking up the steps. 'Uh Maxon.'

'Yeah?'

'Why are we walking like tortoises?'

'Don't pregnant women walk slower?'

'I am only a month pregnant, that won't be until I am at least 3 months so could we pick up the speed? If not we are going to be really late and the advisors are not going to be happy.'

'Okay.'

He walked a tad bit faster but we were still pretty slow. We walked into the conference room a few minutes late but no one really asked why since we were almost always late to meetings. we took our seats and the meeting started. It was a short and relatively stress free meeting, nothing much other than budget sheets and updates on the caste removal. Since the country was peaceful, we were planning on doing a few appearances for opening schools, hospitals and such. WE dismissed the meeting early and Maxon and I went back to our room.

'Maxon, I'm not going to the gym.'

'Why not?'

'I'm pregnant, I can't exercise.'

'Oh.'

'How do you not know all of these Maxon?'

'I don't know, so what are you going to do?'

'I'm going to have Paisley as my maid,'I said proudly,'you can go ahead without me, I will be fine.'

'Alright.' he said as he took out his shirt and changed into some gym shorts.

'I'll see you later.' I said finally and left the room.I called for Marlee to my study, since she was also pregnant, she wouldn't be working out with Carter which would mean that she was free.

'What's up?'

'I have someone for the spot of my last maid.'

'Finally. You were supposed to get three 6 months ago, who is it?'

'Paisley.'

'Oh, she is good friends with Mary and Lucy right?'

'Yeah, see you in the women's room later?'

'Alright, since I have nothing else to do, after I get Paisley put as your maid I will meet you at the women's room.'

'Thanks Marlee.' and just as I said that, the rebel alarm sounded. I pulled Marlee into my room and activated the passageway. I walked down the staircase with Marlee close behind. We reached the royal safe room and closed the door behind us. We sat at the end of the bed to catch our breaths, 'You okay Marlee?' She nodded as she steadied her breathing when Maxon came through the door limping. 'Oh no.' I thought as I rushed up to him to help him onto the bed. Marlee already had the first aid kit at hand. Maxon cursed under his breath and winced as he sat on the bed. I looked at his leg which seemed to have a similar wound as to the one I had when I was shot in the arm. I took a cloth from the first aid kit and went to the sink to wash it. I gently pated the wound with the wet cloth. It was a bullet scrape at his knee, anything more to the right and he wouldn't have been able to walk.

'You were lucky, Maxon.' Marlee murmured.

'I know.'he let out as he winced again.

'I'm putting the antiseptic.' He nodded and I continued. This reminded me of the time we were in the safe room together and I was helping Maxon dress the slash wounds on his back from his father. I dressed the wound and Maxon immediately wanted to stand.'Stop it, just sit down.' I grumbled.

'Fine,' He said,'but Marlee should be resting on the bed if not Carter will kill me.'

Marlee obediently slid onto the bed leaning on the bed frame as she stared into space. I took a seat at the Queen's chair and leaned back and closed my eyes. It seemed that every time there was a rebel attack neither of us would bring work down. I heard someone run and opened my eyes to see Marlee entering the toilet. Maxon looked at me, asking if he could stand. I shook my head sternly and went to tend to Marlee.

'You don't have to help me every time I puke.'

'Yes I do, if not what are best friends for?' She let out a smile and and let me help her up which took more effort than usual. As we walked out, the door out of the safe room swung open and Carter stepped in. Carter smiled easily as Marlee walked towards him.

'Thanks guys.'

'No problem.' I answered as I walked to the bed to help Maxon.'Could you tell Officer Avery to meet us at the hospital wing to update us on the attack.' he nodded, bowed and left with Marlee holding hands.

We entered the infirmary where the injured guards were being attended to. I walked Maxon to the first bed at the corner which were reserved for either of us. About five nurses and doctors immediately dashed up to us and looked at Maxon's leg which was on the bed. One of the nurses removed the bandaging I did and inspected the wound. The doctor called out some weird medical terms that were far beyond my vocabulary but I think it meant- get some numbing medicine and someone stitch that up, he won't die. As a nurse was helping Maxon stitch up the wound, Avery walked in.

'America could you come with me? I have the update.' I looked at Maxon who just nodded for me to go along with Avery.

Once we were outside. He started,'None of the guards died but quite a few are injured as you saw, we were attacked by southern rebels but they didn't go very far.'

'Alright, thanks Avery.'

I went back to Maxon and saw that his leg was all stitched up. He smiled at me and reached for my hand to pull himself up. We went to our room to see two trays of food for us. Maxon went over to the lounge chairs at the balcony and I took the trays passing one to him.

'How's you leg.'

'Better,' he said as he shrugged.

The rest of the day was us signing papers, talking to each other and later going to bed.

* * *

'You okay,' Gravril asked.

'Yeah, just a little nervous, haven't done a regular report in a while.' Which was true, we were either too busy or had nothing to report on, it was usually the latter.

'Don't worry America, I'm sure you'll do fine, there isn't much for tonight anyway. This one is mainly to tell the people we haven't forgotten about them.'

I cracked a smile as Maxon walked over from the washroom. We were on set of the report and were just waiting for it to be time to start. As the time neared, Maxon and I took our seats. I looked through my papers once more and the cameras rolled. Maxon updated the people on some currency and stock stuff 'Q and A' style. Later Gravril switched his attention to me and started with my half of the report.

'What have you been working on, Queen America?'

'We have been working on building up more schools and hospitals as well as making everything more affordable for citizens, we are also trying to set up more factories and bringing in new companies for people to work for.'

'That sounds great, is there anything else?'

'Yes, we are planning to accept letters from citizens with suggestions as to how to improve the lives of people here.'

'That sounds very nice. Thank you for your time today your majesties...'

The report ended, I helped Maxon up from his chair and we were walking back to our room.

'Let's go to the garden instead.'

'Okay.' I said not sure if I had any other choice. We sat on the bench in the park, the one we sat on when we first met before the selection. He took my hand and placed it on his lap.

'You're beautiful,'

I turned and saw him staring at me lovingly. 'Thank you.', I said, my voice suddenly high-pitched. He held my face with his hands and I couldn't help but fall in love with him all over again when our lips touched. I took in every bit of him I could, trying to put it in the core of my heart so that it will always be felt, maybe this scene will be forgotten but the feeling of the immense love and warmth I felt would not be lost.

* * *

I woke up and saw the chocolate brown eyes and honey yellow hair of Maxon's in my direction. He moved closer to me and I unknowingly did the same. We were in our bubble again when a sharp tool decided to pop it. There was a knock on the door, Maxon gave an exasperated sigh, left the bed and opened the door. Carter was there, they exchanged some words and Maxon walked back running his hand through his hair.

'Its August and Georgia, they want to see us.' he said as he walked to the closet.

I followed behind him and we changed quickly, brushing our teeth and tidying our hair so that we looked decent.

We walked down the stairs to see August and Georgia standing in the middle of the room. Georgia ran up and hugged me as Maxon and August shook hands.

'Now to business,' August started,'when we first met, we said that the Northern Rebels mean no harm and only want the castes demolished which we can see you are working on now, but we also asked for one more thing.'

I looked at Maxon with puzzlement, not able to recall anything else they asked for, Maxon seemed as confused as I was, sensing our confusion, Georgia spoke.

'We said that we wanted nominated officials.'

'Oh' I mouthed at the realization.

'What do you mean exactly? Advisers?'

'Yes Maxon, we want nominated advisers.' August confirmed.

'We will try our best but I'm not too sure, it would take a lot of time for us to work on though but we will have that noted down.'

'Thank you, by the way, the suggestion thing with the citizens was very smart.'

I smiled at Geogia's response.

'See you guys next time.' I said as they walked out. Georgia smiled back at me and waved goodbye.

We went to the infirmary to get Maxon's knee checked and went up to his study.

'What do you think.' I asked as I ate breakfast that Maxon brought in from his room.

'The people will be happy but the advisers will not, there are many risks for nominating people as advisers, we will have to do thorough checks on their background so that there are no security breeches but what if we get a bunch of idiots as advisers? The country will fall into poverty, it will be disastrous.'

'We could allow current advisers to take part in the nominating, and those that do not make it through can coach the new advisers,' he nodded as I continued,' the people who want to be part of the nomination may have to have a certain degree, those who want to be nominated would send in a form to the palace and we can sort them out.'

'That will lead to a bit of work but it will do. I think we should keep a one or two of our current advisers just in case.' I nodded, so it was set, we were going to have nominated advisers. 'So who should we keep permanent?'

'The two who have contributed the most to Illea, the two who have given valid opinions in different situations, the two who are critical thinkers.'

'Steven.'

'And Anthony.' Maxon said completing my sentence.

We got to work, getting all the information we had thought through on paper and printing out the sheets, answering questions as we went along. It was rare when we had to print things out or set up any folder to be honest since Silvia and the advisers usually did that for us so it felt strange to be at the other end of the line. I called for Silvia to check the prototype and print out the copies for us so that I could get on the work I was supposed to do today. I entered my study at late afternoon, the first time for the day and saw Marlee already hard at work. I joined her and together, we breezed through the other folders.

'Where were you today?' She asked with curiosity as she sorted through the completed folders.

'Me and Maxon were busy with getting something set up, sorry for coming in so late.'

'No biggie, we are done now aren't we.'

I gave her a smile and dismissed her for the day. I was starving right now since I forgot to take lunch because I was so busy setting up the file with Maxon but it was almost dinner time so I decided I could wait out a little longer. I entered Maxon's study to see him going over what looked like his last folder. I quietly sat on the couch and looked at him working. I probably looked like a creep thinking back but Maxon didn't seem to mind. When he put the folder away he gave his body a stretch and stood up. I watched him as he walked over to me and helped me up from the couch giving me a hug at the same time. Maxon's hugs were perfect, they weren't very tight like Aspen's, not letting me escape nor were they like dad's which were lose, allowing me to fly loose easily, a bit too easily. Maxon's hugs gave me enough space to move but allowed me to feel protected, sheltered and his warmth. His strong arms wrapped around me with little strength, just enough to protect me from what may be outside. Tears formed as nostalgia over took me and memories of Aspen and Dad flooded my vision. Maxon stepped back to look at me, wiping the tears at the corners of my eyes gingerly.

'What is it darling?'

I shook my head, 'No, just hormones.' I lied.

'I have to deal with this for 9 months?'he said.

I laughed a little which halted the tears. I went into the bathroom to wash my face and fix some of the ruined makeup. When I stepped out, candles and dinner had magically appeared on his desk. 'Wow' I said under my breath as I walked towards the table and caught sight of my food. Roast chicken in the middle with mashed potatoes and strawberry tarts for desert. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash, next to the door was Maxon holding a camera smiling cheekily.

'Surprise!'

'What special day is today?'

'Just to celebrate your pregnancy, sorry it was not on the actual day.'

'Maxon... Come on let's eat.' He scurried over, hanging his camera on the chair before he took the knife to cut the chicken. Roast chicken is probably my favourite besides strawberry tarts but it is rarely made since it takes lots of time to cook. As I was taking my first bite of chicken, I saw another flash go. 'Maxon, why don't you eat instead of taking all those pictures?'

'I need to remember this moment, just let me alright.'

I sighed and let him be since I was so hungry. After we finished dinner, Maxon decided for us to go to the garden. It was a great day with nice wether so I could not refuse. We walked past the doors and to the garden, it looked as beautiful as the first time I saw it although I was too busy insulting Maxon that I didn't enjoy it's beauty, this truly was a very beautiful cage...

The soft Angeles wind blew by, and it started drizzling.

'May I have this dance?'

I took his hand and we swayed gently in the rain, a little awkwardly because of his knee. When we did this on the roof, we were interrupted by Clarkson but there was no one to interrupt us today, I let myself be engulfed in this love that I felt.

I looked into his soft brown eyes.'I love you.'he whispered.

'I love you more.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, here is chapter 9, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Mom, Kenna and May were coming over today and I was beyond excited. It has been a few solid months since they visited and I was overjoyed when they suggested it on Wednesday. Now, Saturday has finally come. I am pushing all my work back to do on Sunday which Maxon is not particularly happy about but caved in when I said I would only do it while he was at the gym. I guess he wanted to spend time with me?

I heard a knock from the door,'Can we come in?' May said.

'Come on in.' I said as I slid the last pin into my hair, I had asked Paisley to leave my hair down but my hair was bugging me so I tied it into a ponytail instead. I stood up as the door creaked open and May dashed up to me, giving me a hug.

'Where's Maxon?'

'He's working, he will join us for lunch. How's Gerad.'

'He's doing great at school, he was able to get into a special school that focuses on sports, he is in the soccer team!' She squealed excitedly.

It has always been Gerad's dream to play soccer, I smiled at my envisioned sight of him kicking the ball on the field happily. I settled on the bed with Kenna and May while Mom sat on the couch. We chatted for hours, catching up with the world outside the palace and how everyone was doing. I felt a little bad since I was so clueless about everything but it felt great to know that I had a positive impact on their lives. Mom got a job, she's a music teacher in a school now. Although she is a One, she didn't want to stay at home and live off me I guess so she works at a prestigious school in Angeles which May is actually going to. Kenna is staying at home with Astra to look after her but says also does up some paintings for fun, for memories of the old times. Some were sold to collectors while others are hung up around the house which I am ecstatic to see when I visit them. It was nice to hear that James had also gotten a job, he was the head supervisor for a company which was great for him. Kenna told me that the factory workers were very happy to see that he was the new supervisor since he had been in their shoes before. A knock from the door silenced us, one that has grown familiar. Maxon came threw the door with a bright cheerful smile, at first I thought it was a mask but saw the genuine happiness in his eyes.

'Are we ready for lunch ladies?'he asked casually.

May immediately ran up and gave him a hug, he gave me a questioning look but I just shook my head and gave him a smile. He returned the hug and May let go, skipping down the hallway, down the stairs, to the dining hall. He let Mom and Kenna walk through first before grabbing my hand and we walked down together.

It has been a while since we ate in the dining hall, with only the two of us in the royal family, there was no need to eat in such a grand room, instead we typically ate in one of our rooms. I took in the enchanting dinning hall once again like I did when I first visited the palace during the selection. Everyone was at their seats watching us as we entered and sat at the head of the table. Butlers soon filled the room carrying trays of food for each of us. May immediately dug into the food and Kenna and Mom followed in suit after.

'You okay?' Maxon whispered.

'Yeah.' I answered as I started to eat my food. We continued chatting about our lives when Maxon left to work. We finished eating and went to the women's room.

'America, do you still play?' Kenna asked as she went to the piano and let her hands run across the keys.

'I still play but only a few times in a week.'

'Oh, would you join me Ames?' Mom said as she stood on stage. I smiled easily as I went to sit at the piano to play. I glanced at the sheet music in front of me and let my fingers to the work. I felt absorbed in my own world, just like old times, I played the piano as Mom sang along and it felt like I wasn't queen, wasn't running a country but just a commoner playing songs for a party. As the song came to an end, I saw a flash, I turned around to see Maxon leave. I got up and ran to him and caught mom shaking her head, smiling. Maxon was slowly walking away, a little away from the room. 'Maxon!' I shouted. He whizzed around and ran towards me as my feet gave way. Amazingly, I fell into his arms. He grunted as he lifted me up and I slipped into unconsciousness.

I woke up to see the ceiling of my room which the sight of Maxon's concerned face immediately blocked. Relief washed over his face and he gave me a soft kiss on my forehead. 'She's awake.' I heard a nurse say. Maxon helped me up and he gave me a sad smile. Doctor Ben came in front of me and sighed as he flipped through the few papers on his clipboard.

'Your highness, your heart couldn't handle you running and carrying a baby at the same time, thus, you fainted,'he said bluntly, I was pregnant which I completely overlooked when I ran, a chill ran down my spine and my throat tightened.'Thankfully, your baby is unharmed but please be more careful America.'

I nodded, 'Thanks Ben.' I said.

'Your family is outside.' Maxon whispered.

Horror must have shown on my face as I realized that my family just saw me faint and I couldn't tell them I was pregnant, 'It's alright darling.' Maxon said as he opened his arms inviting me to hug him. I snuggled up to him and the door suddenly barged open. I peeked at the door and saw May. How was I going to explain this? There was no way I could break protocol and tell them I was pregnant, I'm only 5 weeks! Just then, Maxon saved me.

'Call your family in,'he told May as he helped me into a better position for seeing my family. They streamed in with worry plastered on their faces. They stood on my side, opposite from Maxon who was facing them on my left. He cleared his throat,'America fainted because of a sudden drop of her blood pressure when she stood up.' Maxon said calmly, 'I'm sorry but it's Doctor's orders for America to rest for the day, so...'

Mom was the first to catch on and nodded,'Alright let's go home, thank you for the time here America and Maxon, we hope to visit soon.'

I gave them a weak smile as the left and closed the door behind them. Maxon gave me a kiss and whispered into my year,'I love you, now go to sleep.'

I nodded and obediently went to bed, I saw Maxon smirking as he left the room, probably praising himself for his good work.

I woke up to the sound of birds chripping and water running. I sat up just as Maxon walked out of the bathroom running a towel over his wet hair. 'Good morning darling,' he said as he went over to the closet.

I let out a soft laugh before heading into my room. Paisley was cleaning up my room and literally dropped everything at the sight of me. Her enthusiasm was fresh and something I appreciated. Mary and Lucy peeked their heads out from the bathroom and smiled when they saw me. Paisley quickly got to work helping me out of my dress. I entered the bathroom to see the bath ready with a lavender scent coming from the water. I slipped in as Mary and Paisley went out while Lucy stayed to do my hair while I was in the tub.

'America, so how's the baby?'

'Well, I'm not too sure but there has been little to no puking after Doctor Ben gave me the medicine.'

'When is your next checkup?'

'Umm... Later today I think.'

Lucy nodded her head but didn't say anything else. I got out of the bath quickly and put on my robe, not able to handle the awkward silence any longer. I walked out following Lucy to see Mary holding up a new dress and Paisley laying out my makeup on the vanity. I put on the dress, a blue chiffon knee length day dress. It was perfect. The dark navy blue looked absolutely beautiful. I sat down at my vanity and glanced at my mirror, my hair was simply plaited, as Paisley started working on my makeup I looked at some necklaces that were laid on my table and picked up a necklace, it was a simple necklace with silver-colored chain and had dark blue righnstones in it.

'Could you please help me put this on, Mary?' I said as I held it towards my side. She held it gingerly as if it might just shatter in her hands and put it on me.

'Done.' Paisley announced.

I looked at the mirror and realized that this was the best I have looked for a while. 'Thank you girls, you did a wonderful job today.'I said as I got up and walked over to the door to Maxon's suite. When I entered, I saw him sitting at the table having breakfast, I walked over to join him at the table and started with my breakfast. There were an assortment of fruits on the side with banana pancakes as the main meal, I was also welcomed by the multicolored fruit punch which looked stunning. We ate silently and Maxon held out a hand for me when it was ready for us to go for the meeting.

For once the advisers immediately stood up to greet us when we set foot in the room.

'Gentlemen, please take your seats.'Maxon greeted the advisors,'On Wednesday we told all of you about our plans on having nominated advisers, we told all of you to tell us what you think today.'

One by one the men stood up to voice their thoughts, majority thought it would be a good idea however, they needed jobs if they were not going to withhold the position of an adviser.

'Before the election, each of you will have a job to fall back to, if you cannot find one of your interest, then I will place you in a job, of course you will also have your say of what kind of job. Well, all this applies to all but two of the advisers America and I have chosen.'

'Could we know who they are?'A voice called out which sent the men into a frenzy of conversations.

'If you could all quieten down, I'm sure Maxon will tell you the names.'I told them. The realization made them stop since they knew what I was saying was true.

'The two men are Steven and Anthony,' Steven and Anthony heaved a sigh of relief but surprisingly the other advisers said nothing and just expected it which was strange, were they thinking that if they kept quiet they would be kept too? Well, that was not how this worked. ' The election will be held during the New Years' and of course, we will be announcing it on the _report_ tomorrow.'

The advisers nodded quietly allowing Maxon to dismiss them. 'See you later.'

'See you later darling.' he said as he gave me a kiss on my temple and went to his room to get ready for the gym.

I entered my study after my meeting to see Marlee at my desk. 'Hey Marlee.'

'Aren't you supposed to be at the gym?'

'I didn't do any work yesterday since my family was over and I told Maxon I would do it now.'

'Oh, I forgot about that, but you really didn't have to, I already did most of the work.'

'Come on, I'm doing work.' I insisted as I sat down on my chair and started flipping through some folders, the same old budget schemes, nothing exciting. We finished work quickly and we decided to go to the women's room. I sat in front of the piano and started to play songs off the top of my head. Marlee was quietly humming along as she read the magazines. I looked down at her growing belly which was really starting to show, 'I am going to be like that soon'I thought to myself. A maid brought in tea and cookies every now and then but it was only the two of us most of the time. I started becoming bored so I called for the girls.

'Is there anything we can help you with your majesty?' Paisley asked.

'Yes,' I said as Marlee turned around to look at us,'please bring in some card games.' They looked at each other confused. 'We are playing games...' I said to answer their questions. I walked over to Marlee and sat beside her while Lucy and Mary sat beside one of us leaving a space for Paisley whom quickly came back with a set of cards. She settled between Lucy and Mary and the game started. Not soon after, another maid came in with tea and biscuits but also a note she handed to me.'King tugging his ear.' it read, I smiled to myself as the others gave me questioning looks. 'I have to find Maxon, you guys continue playing alright.' They smiled to themselves and nodded letting me go. I went to the garden and saw Maxon sitting on the bench. His face lightened when he caught sight of me.

'How are you darling?'

'Umm... Good, I suppose.' I answered hesitantly.

'Well, are you ready for your checkup?'

'Of course!' I answered enthusiastically. This was going to be my first actual checkup since the other one was scratched due to a rebel attack. We walked to the hospital wing and to Doctor Ben's office. One knock on the door and we entered.

'Ah, there you are.' Ben said, 'Let's get started shall we,'He opened a door and urged Maxon and I to enter.' America could you change into this?' He said as he got out a hospital gown from the cupboard.

I nodded and he left us in what seemed to be an examination room. I took of my dress and put on the hospital gown and Maxon helped me die a knot at the back. I sat on the exam bed, which had a big sheet of plastic covering it entirely, while Maxon took a seat in a little wooden chair. Ben came in a few minutes later and lay out his tools on a metal table.

'Alright, first thing I need you to go to a toilet and urinate so that I can get a urine sample from you, there is a toilet right through there.' He said pointing to another door.

I gulped and went to the bathroom to pee. When I stepped out, Ben immediately rushed into the toilet and Maxon looked at me uneasily. What did I have to do now? Ben came back in and put my sample in a zip-lock.

'Now I will ask you a series of questions and these may seem personal but they are essential to know things like your child's due date so one and so forth, also, please answer them honestly.'

Next thing I knew, I was being bombarded with tons of questions which started to give me a headache.

'Alrighty, now for the last part. Could you lie on the bed.' I did as I was told hoping for an ultrasound but was so, so wrong. 'America, put your legs up,' he said as he pushed up one of them so that it was bent.

Next thing I knew, both my legs were up and he was poking something in me. I felt so uneasy, I wanted to get up and run but this was probably the position I was going to be in to give birth so I might as well get used to it. I looked to find Maxon and saw him looking at me with sorry eyes. I reached out for his hand and he easily took it as he walked over to be by my side. Ben seemed to be looking at my nether region for forever but I knew it had only been a minute. Ben pulled his finger out and I immediately closed my legs.

'A few more seconds America,' he said as he pulled my legs apart.

He used something hard and went at it again only this time, it was more uncomfortable and it was higher up in me. When he pulled it out, he helped me close my legs and pushed them down.

'You can go change now, come see me again next week.' He said as he took his tools and left.

Maxon helped me out of the hospital gown and I was back in my new chiffon dress.

'You know, I should have stood where Ben was...' I gave him a hard nudge as we walked out of the hospital wing.

'That was the most uncomfortable thing I have done in my life!'

'Well, you better get used to it.'

'I know...' I sighed. We went back to the garden but this time, there was a table set up in front of the bench and trays of food were laid out on it. I gave Maxon's hand a squeeze before we sat on the bench when I realized what an awkward position we were in. There was only one big tray which was placed in front of the others. Maxon lifted the cover and the scent of fresh pizza wafted into my nostrils. I took a piece and bit into warm cheese and thin crust. I faced Maxon to see string cheese all over his suit. I chocked on my piece, unable to contain a laugh. He looked down at his suit and noticed the cheese on it, trying to get it off. I put down my slice and flicked off his hands, I used a piece of tissue paper and tugged at the cheese, taking it off easily.

'Thanks.'he said, as I was lifting my head to look at him he swooped down and gave me a kiss.

I was caught off guard but returned the kiss anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's already been 10 chapters! I hope all of you are still enjoying the fan fiction and it's not getting boring, feel free to leave plot suggestions (I will give credit, don't worry) anyway, here's chapter 10!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

'Come on Marlee. Boy or Girl.' I needled.

'Fine fine, it's a boy.' She said acting cool even though I could hear how excited she was through her voice alone.

'Oh my gosh, congrats Marlee.'

'Thanks America.'

I opened the door to my study letting her pass first. What I saw on my table was a nightmare. Stacks upon stacks of rectangular sheets papers.

'I think the mail came.'

'Go figure.' I replied as I sat behind the huge pile, 'Where should we start...'

'How about this pile?' Marlee said, pointing at a medium sized stack.

I signed deeply as I picked up a fraction of it, putting it only lap to sift through them. 'Let's throw the rubbish ones in the bin,' I said pointing to the bin at the corner of the room,'and possible place ones here,' a part of my desk which was conveniently not cluttered with anything. We sped through the first few stacks of letters, majority had nonsense in them with the rest suggestions, however, only a few would be able to be carried out in Illea. For example, one man suggested a port in every province which was impossible since not every province had a river connecting it to the ocean, not to mention the absurd amount of money needed to set up 35 ports.

A knock on the door soon came and Maxon walked in,'America, we have to get going to be present at the opening...'

'Alright...' I sighed,'Marlee, I have to go, if you aren't feelings well please go and rest.' I told Marlee.

'Yes America.'

I got up and we walked to the car together. 'So how are the letters going?' Maxon asked as I slid into a seat on the car.

'Most of them are filled with nonsense but a few of them are quite good, which we can discuss. Although...'

'Is there something wrong, dear?'

'Marlee and I can't sit there and go through letters all day, so I suggest we should put a deadline for when they can submit them if not, that will be the only thing Marlee or I will have time for.'

'That's a good point. We can set the deadline for the end of the month, is that alright?'

'Yeah, that should be fine.'

The car came to a halt and the guards from the car in front of us stepped out. We have reached the first stop for today, a general hospital. Carter helped me open the door which sent the crowd wild. Maxon and I stepped out of the car and were welcomed by the loud cheers of the people, I put on a wide smile and greeted some of the people that were standing on my side. We reached the front of the hospital and I caught sight of one of the camera's light turn on. I sighed under my breath as I went over to greet the Mayors of Angeles which made the photographers go crazy. We cut the ribbon and were ushered back into the car. From what I remembered from the folder, the next opening was at a school close by, I think it was a special school for artists and musicians. There was a crowd again which was slightly smaller and we did the same thing we just did with the Mayors of Angeles. As the car doors were shut beside us, I asked,'Where are we going next?'

'We are going to a school in Sonage so sit tight since it's going to be a rather long journey.'

Sighing I closed my eyes and took a nap.

* * *

I woke up, facing the door of the car, I glanced out of the window it looked like it was about to rain with dark heavy clouds looming the sky. 'Hey Maxon, it's about to rain.'

There was no reply, I turned to look at him thinking he was sleeping - he was gone, gone. I looked at the front seats. No one. No car in front, no car behind either. What was going on? My heart thumped in my chest - we were in the middle of no where, I did not know how to drive a car, where did everyone go? The car maid a sharp turn. What? There was no one driving the car. Thoughts piled on top of my head and my lungs felt tight. It was a dead end, a cliff ahead of us. My heart races, lungs reaching for air,'Please stop, please stop, please stop...'I said over and over again in my head. Crossing my fingers, the car leapt off the cliff. It was not falling. The car was in the air, flying? All I could see were clouds and a few trees below us. What is this? I felt confused, bewildered, flummoxed! The car started falling now. Soon, land could be seen. I almost wished we were still flying because we were going to crash. Just as the car kissed ground, I heard a voice,'America, America,'the calm voice said, it sounded so familiar but I couldn't make out who it was...

I was welcomed by someone patting my lap as I opened my eyes.

'You're awake.' Maxon sighed. I sat up properly and saw him leaning back at his seat. 'We needed you awake before the crowd sees us.' He explained, 'You okay?'

'Yes, just had a bad dream.'I tidied myself up and a few moments later, I caught sight of buildings with people lining the streets. This was the biggest crowd yet, with people holding up signs and cheering. We alighted just in front of a school and I greeted the people standing by the sidelines. I walked to the podium to greet the Mayors of Sonage, giving Carter a cheeky wink as I walked up the steps and he returned it with a slight smile. We cut the red ribbon announcing the schools opening and everyone was all smiles. As I walked down the steps, a shot rang out. Guards came over to me as one of them shouted out orders. I got into the car and as it was reversing I saw who was shot. Carter. My face went white and I felt weak seeing blood oozing out of his leg. People were running all over the place and I could see a few officers ahead of us turning into an alleyway. Everything was chaos and from the look on Maxon's face, I knew he thought so too.

'Do you think is going to be alright?' I asked Maxoj as I snuggled up to him.

He ran his hand through his honey hair,'I think he would be but I can't really tell the severity.' He held my face in his hands,'Don't worry, he will be alright.'

I looked into his eyes which looked calm but behind them I could see his fear. Carter was much closer to him than I was. I kissed him lightly and lay put my head on his shoulder.

We arrived at the palace, and behind us I could see some guards carrying Carter into the palace. Maxon and I stepped out of the car and he went along with the guards carrying Carter. I went up to my study to see Marlee still at my desk.

'What's wrong?' She said standing up to attention.

'Marlee don't freak out but Carter was shot in the leg.'

She fell back into her chair and I could hear her controlling her tears. 'Hormones' I thought. I kneeled in front of her and took some tissue on my table to wipe her tears. 'He's down stairs Marlee, he will be fine, Maxon's there,' I paused and bit my lip as she recovered herself,'Let's go down.' I suggested. She nodded and I helped her up at the best I could and we walked down the stairs, slowly, together. We walked over to the hospital wing and caught sight of Maxon sitting on one of the benches in front of an operating room. We walked over briskly to Maxon who looked up when he saw us approaching. He stood up to help Marlee into a seat.

'How's Carter?' She asked breathlessly.

'He was shot in the leg, nothing too serious though he will need therapy for walking, he will be in a wheelchair for a bit.'

Marlee heaved a sigh of relief,'Could I on his behalf ask for a break and return only when he fully recovers?'

Maxon seemed a little hesitant but nodded anyway. I sat down feeling a little breathless myself when the pain I had known since young came to visit me again. Maxon surprisingly noticed right away.

'What's wrong America?' He asked worriedly kneeling down to my hight.'

'Gastric, I missed lunch.'

'Marlee could we leave you now?'

Marlee nodded waving for us to leave.'

Maxon carried me bridal style to the kitchen where people looked at me worriedly.

'She needs food.' Maxon announced loudly.

I blushed a little as bowls and plates of small serving of food were placed in front of me like my personal buffet. I put some chicken and speghetti on my plate, pushing the bowl of chicken soup towards me.

'Could I have some?' Maxon asked quietly as if I would bite off his head.

'Of course Maxon.' I replied with a laugh.

He gave me a crooked smile as he took some of the fried rice and placed them on a plate. It looked so romantic in my head, a buffet layed out in front of me and Maxon, just for us except that we were in a kitchen full of cooks working their butts off to prepare for the actual dinner. We went back up stairs and I went through letters that were left although I wasn't really paying attention since my thoughts were fixated on Marlee and Carter, his wound, his leg, whether he would be able to walk again.

'America?'

I snapped out of my daze and glanced up to see Marlee,'Is Carter alright?'

'The doctor says he will be fine and the surgery went well, he is still medicated though, I am planning on seeing him before dinner?'

'That's fine Marlee, you can leave before dinner for Carter, you have already done a lot today.' She gave me a weak smile and we went back to what we did at the start of the day, looking through letters. Surprisingly we were able to finish sorting out the letters before I had to get ready for the report.

I walked into my room where there was a strong scent of lemongrass in the air. 'Hello America.' Paisley chirped as she walked over to undress me,'You are a little late today so don't stay too long in the bath!'

'Okay.' I stepped into the bath filled with warm lemongrass scented water. Lucy did my hair in the tub again which I think it was because we didn't have a lot of time. Everything was already laid out on my vanity by the time I got out of the bath and into my dress. They did quick makeup and hair and rushed me out the door. Outside was Maxon waiting for me which helped me realize why they were in such a rush. He gave me a cheeky smile and an arm to hold onto.

We reached the filming room for the report a little early and spent the time going over the scripts we had for the day. Gravril, Maxon and I were standing in a circle together going over our lines briefly when one of the crewmen came over.

'We are starting soon, please take your places.'

We went over to our chairs and went through the script once more before the red light turned on.

'Good evening Illea, it is me Gravril, with the royal highnesses here with another report. Today King Maxon and Queen America went to a few schools and hospitals for openings. Could you tell us more about it King Maxon?'

'Of course, we went to a general hospital and school opening in Angeles today as well as a school opening in Sonage. Unfortunately one of our guards got shot when we were about to go back to the palace, the man has been captured and is awaiting for his sentence. We have another announcement to make, America.'

'Yes, and this is regarding the acceptance of letters from the public, we would be halting this process for a while since we already have so many suggestions but do not fret as we will be excepting letters again sometime next year so keep your ideas!'

'Very well, letters will be accepted till the end of this month. That is all we have for you today Illea, Good night!' Gravril announced.

The cameras were switched off and the crewmen have us a thumbs up, to tell us we could leave. Maxon leapt to his feet and helped me up. We walked out of the room to Maxon's bedroom. We walked in to see Paisley putting down two plates of pasta.

'Paisley, you can take one of the plates out, we ate a little earlier.' She nodded at Maxon's words and took one serving of the food out.

Matter dinner we decided to pay Carter a visit. We saw Marlee walk out of his room looking extremely worn out. Maxon knocked on the door.

'Come in.' Carter shouted in frustration.

Just as we set foot into the room, his face was washed with guilt. I sat on the side of his bed as Maxon sat in a chair at the corner. His leg was suspended in the air with a cloth which was attached to the ceiling.

'Sorry guys, I didn't mean to be rude, I'm just really tired.'

'It's alright, Carter,'I said looking at his leg.

'How is it, your leg I mean.'

'Well, I don't feel much right now but I'm sure the pain will soon kick in, I just woke up, but I'm feeling better.'

'Good to hear.' Maxon said. I let out a loud yawn which sent both of the boys laughing, an inside joke I suppose. 'Well, I think we will be heading back now.'

'Thanks for coming.'

'No problem,' Maxon and I said in unison. We walked up the stairs ,which was easier said than done, and went straight to bed, exhausted by the long day.

Knock. Knock knock. I covered my hear with my pillow but that didn't help much. Maxon didn't seem to be getting out of bed so I headed for the door. In place of Carter was Avery, I hadn't talked to him much so it was a little weird to have him in place of Carter but he was better than a random guard at the palace.

'Good Morning your highness, the advisers want you and King Maxon to be in a meeting with them to go over the letters we have received which you went through yesterday.'

'We will be there in 10 minutes.' He nodded and walked away as I closed the door, I could hear him heave a sigh of relief as I closed the door and shook my head smiling to myself seeing that they were so afraid of us.

'Maxon we have to go to a meeting.' I said gently as I reached the bed. He let out an awful groan as he sat up.

I kissed his forehead and headed for the bathroom, hearing his footsteps trial behind me. I got ready as quickly as I could, not even bothering to put my hair up when Maxon and I walked out of our room.

In the meeting room the advisers were sitting quietly reading through letters, like good little school children - at least that's what I envision school children to look like. There was a heap of letters in the center of the table, everyone seemed engrossed in reading what the letters had to offer. As we sat down, Maxon leaned forward to take a few letters from the stack, passing some to me.

'Those that are good put one side, those that are not, put them here.' He whispered as he pointed at an area between us.

I nodded and read the letters, soaking up every word like a sponge. Everything I looked up, the pile seemed to be shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller as the advisers' piles increase in size. As I read through the letters, I realized majority of them were suggesting nominated advisers, renovation of old buildings, building high rise buildings instead that will take up lesser space and cost less which is actually a very good idea. The pile soon vanished and everyone read their last letter.

'Alright, any good new ideas we have?' Maxon asked.

'I had one suggesting high rise buildings.' I started.

Maxon smiled as he wrote it down on a piece of paper,'Anything else?'

The meeting dragged on for an hour or so until everything was finalized. As the last adviser left, Maxon said charmingly,'Will you go to the garden with me my lady?'

'I have work to do Maxon.' I whined, not wanting to turn him down.

'Work can always wait.' He said pulling me up from my seat, causing our lips to meet. After a light kiss, we headed for the garden, through the walls of the palace and to the garden. There were a few gardeners about today trimming the already perfect hedges. We walked to the pavilion where I was expecting a set table but in its place was a vase of flowers and a picnic basket with a red and white checkered picnic mat on top of it. He jogged up to the pavilion to get the blue flower in the center and returned in front of me, placing the basket on the ground.

'For my dearest,' he said, bowing in front of me, holding up the flower.

'Thank you my royal husbandness.' I said classily taking the flower from him.

He held out an arm for me and we walked to our typical picnic spot, under the big shady tree which gave us just enough shade. Maxon laid out the mat on the grassy floor and we settled down.

'So why are we doing this?' I said cheekily.

'One, becuase I have run out of ideas and two, we haven't had a date in while so...'

Smiling, I took out the food in my the basket, sandwiches, fruit and smoothies. 'I love you,' I sighed, looking around our beautiful cage. Out of the blue, he turned my head causing our lips to clash and my sandwich to fall, I kissed him back and felt a smile creep in between our kisses. He slowly, gently pushes me away a little such that I could look at him properly. He gave me a crooked smile and leaned back. I sighed and shook my head, taking some fruit.

'Sorry about your sandwich,' he said holding it with his fingers, not a single tinge of guilt could be heard...


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, another chapter here for you today. Happy reading! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

'Happy Christmas Eve, Darling.' Maxon said as I opened my eyes to see him with a warm smile hung on his face.

'Good Morning Maxon,' I said, leaving a kiss on his temple. He playfully pulled me up to a sitting position and out of bed to the bathroom. He started the bath and that was my queue to start stripping. We got into the warm water together, splashing water at each other playfully.

'I think its the season to sing Christmas carols to me now.' He cooed with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and gave in, starting with folk songs. Eventually, we got out of the bath and got dressed, for me I put on a cream colored dress with golden details. Maxon had on a matching suit and we went to the dining hall for breakfast. The Italians arrived yesterday and we were having breakfast together. The other royals would arrive at night for the party, we wanted the Italians to come a little later until after we had set everything up but they insisted and I didn't have it in me to say no to them. When we entered, the food was already served and the wine bottle was already half empty thanks to the Italians.

'Good morning, America.' Nicolletta greeted.

'Hello Nic, how are you enjoying your stay?'

'The wine!' She cheered groggily which sent the room to laughter.

Having the Italians around always lightened the mood, they were always cheerful with a ready smile on their faces.

'Oh, Nicolletta, you ought to freshen up later.' she told her daughter, trying to be as serious as she could.

Nicolletta just nodded and continued eating her breakfast with wine. Breakfast today was mainly fruit based - fruit punch, fruit salad, with scrambled eggs.

We finished breakfast and went to work so that we could get some things done before the party that night.

I went into the study expecting a small pile but of course, on the day when Marlee had taken a day off, the piles combined seemed tall enough to touch the ceiling. I walked over to the table and saw a sticky note on the first folder. I held my breath hoping that it was not more work. I opened an eye and skeemed through the note,

 _Dear America,_

 _I have placed all the work for the rest of the week on your table since I will not be here till next week. Please have all the work done by Monday, I apologize for the inconvenience caused._

 _\- Silivia_

I heaved a sigh of relief, there was no way I could have completed all that work in one day, not to mention Marlee not being around... I looked at the first folder at the top of three piles. 'Three piles for the three days left in the week,'I thought.

The one on the far left was for today, Friday. It was a relatively big pile so I got to work. Luckily, there was nothing too important, just the typical budget drafts and so on...

'You have to get ready now,' Mary informed me.

'I'll be there in a minute,' I assured her as I finished up my last folder.

'Alright,' she said gently and closed the door.

I wrote in the last few words and left the study for my room to get ready for the party. Everything was already prepared, waiting for me. Mary, Lucy and Paisley were cleaning up the already neat room, something Mary and Lucy did a lot at the start of the selection back then.

'Finally,' Lucy breathed out as she pulled me into the bathroom so that I could get into the shower for a quick rinse before I got dressed.

The water cascaded down my skin, I could hear the pitter-patter of the water falling onto the bathroom floor. It was relaxing hearing the sound of water against surfaces, the steam forming on the glass enclosing the shower. When I was done, I reached for a towel to dry myself off. A dress was laid out on my bed, a coral coloured gown with an oval cut-out at the back, it was breathtakingly gorgeous. They helped me put it on and started with the usual hair and makeup. My hair was in a special up do for the party and I had on slightly heavier makeup as well as more jewelry, a necklace, earnings and a simple bracelet.

'Thanks guys,' I said as they pushed me to the door.

'No biggie,'

'Welcome,'

'No problem,' they replied together.

I walked out of my room to the hallway, Maxon was standing there as he always did before parties, gave me his hand and we walked down to the party. As we neared the party, we could hear laughs and chatters. Carter stood by the door and gave us a bow. We gave him a nod, the 'go ahead sign' to announce us to our guests. The room quietened quickly as Carter announced us. We walked to the stage and Maxon gave his little speech, all eyes were on us, he finished and the room erupted into a thundering clap. We walked off the stage, trying to keep up my smile. We did our job as we did in any party and went to greet all of our guests, having involvement in every clique chatting in the room. I was just about done when Maxon went on stage to lead everyone to the dining hall for dinner. Unlike the last few parties we held, we decided to have a more traditional Christmas Eve party and instead of a buffet style party, we went back to our roots and had everyone have dinner together. The butlers filled the room, walking in a neat line carrying the trays containing our food, the lowered the trays with poise, all at the same time and left in an orderly manner. Everyone lifted the covers and the room was filled with the scent of perfectly cooked food, done with precision and skill. I took a bite of the steak after seeing the immense pleasure in everyone's eyes, this was palace food which they were accustomed too, how good could it be? The first bite burst with flavour, the meat tender and juicy, it was one of the best meals I ever had in the palace, even Maxon looked happily surprised with the food and he grew up in the palace! One by one, the guests left the dinning room to enjoy the rest of the party. We stepped on the dance floor and moved along to the music played by the palace orchestra. I caught sight of Kenna and James dancing together too and my eyes lead to Mom who was staring at me and Maxon dreamily. She gave me a tight smile when she realized I was looking and motioned me to carry on. We sat down after a little while since I was getting tired, being pregnant and all. We chatted as Mom walked over to us, giving Maxon a pat on the back which startled him a little before she sat beside me.

'How are you doing, Maxon.' She asked, a seeming a intimidating to me.

Maxon didn't even flinch and just stared at me with his beautiful soft chocolate eyes,'Never been better.'

I blushed furiously and ducked my head, Mum caught on and excused herself,'Now, don't play too long tonight alright, May will want you two awake bright and early tomorrow so that she can open presents.' She added as she trailed away.

We allowed ourselves to leave the party to have our private time together in Maxon's bedroom. We quickly changed into our sleepwear and slid into bed. Cuddles and kisses were generous that night, and we let Mum's words slide.

* * *

 **Maxon POV**

'Come on! Can you guys wake up already? I want to open presents.'

Magda was right, she was very right. At eight sharp, America's sister came running to our room knocking at our door trying to get us to wake up. America let out a loud groan, she wasn't going to wake up. What am I going to do? I had no idea how to treat May, like a tough brother in law? Like a nice and kind guy? Well, politely, Mum had taught me to treat anyone. My brain sorted through different words and how I would reply her but her consistent knocking kept me from thinking.

'Five minutes May, we will meet you down stairs.' America shouted, annoyance leaking through her voice, before falling back onto the bed.

I pulled America up and dragged her out of bed,'Not you too...' She said, rubbing her eyes.

'It's Christmas America, don't you want to see what I got for you?'

She rolled her eyes as she spoke,'I'm not May Maxon, I'm not that excited to get presents.'

I released a sigh as we got ready for the morning, getting our teeth clean and changing into clothes, more appropriate for the occasion. I put on a snowman sweater with some pants while America wore a reindeer sweater with a pair of jeans. We entered the Women's room where everyone was sitting around the Christmas tree which was already surrounded by presents, ready for the gift giving to begin.

'Finally!' May said as we walked over, waving her hand frantically to get us to go over at a faster speed.

America quickened her pace slightly and I unwillingly matched her pace. I saw Adele at an isolated corner with her husband and children, they were near the others but seemed far away. That were the only ones left of my side of the family that I was relatively close to. She gave me a sad smile and an approving nod.

As we took our seats at two empty chairs,'May called out,'Let's start opening presents!'

May was like a ball of energy, she was energetic and excitable which lifted the mood in the room, her energy gave off a subtle vibe which made everyone just that tad bit more excited. They passed around the gifts from under the Christmas tree. My gift for America landed in my hands.

I handed the present to her,'Merry Christmas dear,'

She put the box on her lap and lifted the lid slowly. She looked at it in awe as she lifted up the instrument delicately. Magda had turned to look at what I had given her and gave a similar reaction of 'It's amazing.' I smiled to myself, being able to surprise and impress not only America but her mother too.

'I love it Maxon...' She sighed as she ran her hands over the violin.

I knew how much she would appreciate a violin, there was only one in the palace and it wasn't in a very good condition due to old age. There were some violins before but after the many rebel attacks, the numbers dwindled since many of them got damaged. Hopefully with this new one, it would bring America more joy and me more music to listen to when I was working. A box was in her hands and she took in a breath as she handed it to me.

'I think you will love this as much as I love my present.' She said with a sly smile.

I weighed the box on my hands, light. I peeked into the box and could only make out an object which had sharp edges, a squared thing. I opened the box and was blown away. Nestled in the box was a camera. Not just any camera though, the newest one, the one I thought wasn't even out yet. I picked it up from the box and held it in my hand. This was real! No scratches, brand new. Underneath the cardboard that was holding the camera there were lenses for the camera. An Ultra Wide, Wide Angle, Telephoto, Super zoom and Macro, a full set.

'How did you know?' I whispered.

'The same way you got to know about my violin.' She said.

The rest of the presents were clothes and ties. Adele gave me a bow, one of my lost hobbies after the selection was archery. I still did it for exercise at times but we typically stayed indoors. I guess Adele did know me well...

 **America POV**

We continued the passing around of presents, I received some sheet music from mom and shoes from Kenna but what really surprised me was the gift from May. She gave me one of her own paintings, it was one of our old house and it said at the bottom, ' _No matter where life takes you, don't forget where you came from...'_

'Time for breakfast!'Maxon called out after speaking to a guard.

Everyone walked towards the dining hall where Marlee and Carter were, to join us for breakfast. Everyone took their seats and started to eat the food which was already in front of us.

I leaned back towards one of the guards and spoke in hushed tones,'Could you have someone bring my violin to the Women's room where all the other instruments are as well as the sheet music I got. Have the rest of my presents brought into my room, my helpers will know where to put them.' The guard nodded and left the room.

After breakfast, it was time for May and the others to take their leave. I gave them hugs at the lobby and saw them go into the black car that pulled away shortly after. As we walked back into our home, Maxon caught me off guard and swiftly spun me around and gave me a dip kiss, puling me back up before I could even process what had just happened. We continued walking - him acting as if nothing had happened. 'Let me show him how it's done,'I thought as we reached the third floor. I tugged at his arm with all my might so that he was facing me and pushed our lips together. He returned the kiss after a seconds'thought, 'One point for you and now one for me,'I thought to myself. I pulled away just before it got too intense and went to my study. I placed My's painting on my desk, beside other prized pictures.

Marlee strode in a few seconds later,'What was that all about? It looked pretty intense...'she added.

She gave a slight laugh as I turned away to look at my work, ignoring what she had just said, face burning yet fingers icy cold.

'Let's just... Let's get some work done,'my voice sounding weak instead of the strong voice I wanted.

I briefed Marlee on the work that had to be done and we sat off to work. We did the work quietly, a little too quietly... Usually we would have little chats while we worked but there was none of that today,'Perhaps I have overreacted,'I thought. The silence did help something though, other than for eating at lunch, all our focus was on work. We were able to concentrate and we did all the work and even a little more by late afternoon. 'I think we are done for today Marlee,'I started,'We did work a lot faster but let's not do that again.' I said standing up to stretch.

'Yeah, that was exhausting!'she confirmed with a smile.

She left, wreathed in smiles. I decided to go to Maxon's study. He was not seated there. 'Not again...' I thought. Just then, he appeared from the doorway to his room.

'Looking for me dear?'he said cheekily.

I walked towards him and gave him a flirtatious kick as I circled around him. He pulled me towards him, I was expecting a kiss but instead he pulled me out of the room with him, his camera bouncing at his side. I matched his pace, walking beside him, he loosened his grip to a slight hold. We walked to what I would call our second room, the garden. We walked farther into the garden, the side where we never really went. There, there was a shooting range and another pavilion which looked identical to the other one in the garden, where two trays were. He led me up the steps where our dinner laid.

'I'm not hungry yet...'

'We will have supper according to my plan, you will be fine.' He assured.

It was a light meal, rice with beef stew. I ate the food, taking in every flavor. I dabbed my mouth with the napkin and gave Maxon a shaky smile as he helped me up. We were right next to a shooting range, I did not feel very safe for myself or anyone around me as Maxon passed me a bow, thinking he wanted me to help him hold it as he got some arrows to use. I stopped short and looked at the bow's carvings, this was the bow Adele gave Maxon for Christmas, it had elegant carvings on it and something told me that it was one of a kind, specially made.

'Here.'he urged as he opened the gate to one of the booths.

I expected it to be less exciting compared to our previous dates since I thought I was just going to see him shoot with a bow but the first thing he did blew that thought right off course. He closed the gate and moved right behind me, his fingers overlapping mine. He gave me some instructions and adjusted my fingers. He slid an arrow between my fingers. Everything felt so casual yet romantic at the same time. 'I'm living a dream,'I though as I released the arrow according to Maxon's instructions.

It landed somewhere I never would have imagined it to. 'Maybe someone's leg or in the grass,'I thought,'Maybe in the white space or the black ring if I was lucky...' It landed in the red, just barely, but it was in the red. I was squealed with delight as I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. I passed the bow to Maxon for him to let him have a go.

* * *

We walked to the dining hall where many tiny plates of angel food cake was placed. There were guards and maids gathering around the table to take their serving and leaving the room so that their colleagues could take a piece as well.

'Every Christmas at the palace, the chefs will do up a bunch of Angel Food cakes for everyone, all the staff, the royals. Sadly you weren't here last year so I asked them to prepare two for you, maybe one for you and the other for the baby?' he added with a wink.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello readers, thanks for sticking around and reading more than 10 chapters of my fan fiction. I hope you are still enjoying it as much or more than when you first started reading it. Till next time, enjoy the new chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

I felt soft warm kisses being planted on my face, I waved my hand to where they were coming from but to no avail. Somehow, they were still able to touch my skin. Finally, I gave in and opened my eyes. Sunlight streamed in from the balcony, blinding my vision. As I altered my gaze, I could see the face of a worried King. I gave him a smile to assure him and sat up on bed. My eyes went to the clock, seven.

'Why are we up so early?' I whined as I slumped back down onto the bed.

'Today's a special day, America.' He teased

I wrecked my brain hard, it wasn't Maxon's birthday... It wasn't the first day we met... It wasn't the day we had our first date either... What was it?

'Have you really forgotten?' He said sounding surprised while pulling me out of bed along with him,'It's your birthday!'

'Oh,' I thought,'We didn't celebrate my birthday last year because Dad died, we also didn't celebrate Maxon's birthday since he's parents dies too I guess...'

We got ready as usual, going into my room to get dressed with hair and makeup on, but before I could step out of my room and head to work, Maxon pulled me back into the room with a strong tug at my arm, slamming the door behind me as I slammed my body against his.

'Waoh...' He let out trying to steady us,' It's your birthday! Don't think I'll let you off that easy.'

I rolled my eyes but my heart burned with excitement. He led me to his room where breakfast was served, the fruit were cut into perfect little heart shapes and on top of my strawberry tart, in icing said, _'Happy Birthday America!'_

I didn't even realize that I started to tear up until Maxon gave me a tissue and welcomed me into his arms. I guess the hormones were kicking in after all.

We finished breakfast and we went to the garden for a stroll. He casually picked up a flower from a bush at the entrance of the palace and passed it to me.

'Is this my birthday present then?' I asked in a sarcastic tone.

He smiled and continued walking with me through the garden, not saying a word. We walked along the gravel path to the back of the palace, where the archery station was. As we approached I could hear slight footsteps but didn't think much of them, assuming that they belonged to the guards patrolling the area.

As we rounded the corner, I was welcomed by a surprise. As everyone saw us coming, they threw streamers is the air and shouted,'Happy Birthday America.' It was absolutely wonderful, my whole family was there as well as Adele and her children. It was a mini family get together, in the garden. Mom was the first to come up and hug me. Luckily, I was able to hold back my tears while everyone blessed me with their well wishes. After, everyone started taking plates from the table so I decided to follow along as well. I was actually feeling a little hungry even though I had just eaten, 'No wonder we only had fruit and dessert,' I thought to myself as I looked at the brunch foods served on the buffet table. Everyone sat at the big table after getting their food. Kenna sat beside me with her plate of food and seemed to be fighting the urge to burst out laughing as she saw my food. There was nothing wrong with it, just sausages, scramble eggs, toast and whipped cream. Whipped cream. On everything.

'Monthly cravings?' Kenna asked, trying to keep composed.

'No!' I said sounding more defensive then I meant too.

She raised her brow, thinking about something then smiled to herself and started eating. I replayed the scene again in my head. 'Has she figured it out? That I'm pregnant?' I thought as I glanced at my food. No one seemed to notice though so I just ate the food on my plate. The gathering went on for a while longer until Maxon told everyone we would take our leave first because we 'had work to do'. We walked back into the palace with full stomachs and walked to a Maxon's study. There, Maxon walked behind his desk and pulled open a drawer looking through some envelopes. He took one out, a crisp white envelope with gold outlines. It was a letter from a royal.

He passed it to me,'The answer is 'yes',' he said mysteriously.

His statement made me even more intrigued, I looked at it, in small neat cursive writing wrote ' _To the King and Queen of Illea'._ The back was already neatly cut opened which meant Maxon had read his letter from the Italians. The letter was printed out saying,

 _'From the King and Queen of Italy_

 _'Dear Queen America, we are ecstatic to tell you that we are holding a New Years Party on 31 December at the palace. You are welcomed to come earlier if you like, the palace staff will welcome you with open arms. We hope to see you there._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _King and Queen of Italy'_

'We can go?'

'We can go,' Maxon confirmed, nodding his head. I squealed with excitement and ran into Maxon's arms,'Now, we have to go work but I will meet you in the garden at around six alright.'

I nodded in reply and left him to do his work. Never would I have thought two years ago that I would be Queen but things happened and I am. If anyone, anyone, told me that I would be Queen in two years, I would say that their crazy to think that a five could become Queen but miraculously, I did become Queen and more importantly, married to the love of my life, Maxon Schreave.

In my room was Marlee opening a folder as she walked back to the couch, beside the couch on the little table was a plate of food, sausages, scrambled eggs and eclairs . I guessed that they were from the buffet table at the back of the garden.

'Hello Marlee.'

'Hey... I thought you weren't coming in today, oh and happy birthday.'

'Thanks Marlee, I didn't know if I was going to come in today either but I guess Maxon has important stuff to do today but I have to meet him at six so...'

'Let's get to work then!'

We started off doing our usual thing of chit-chatting and doing work at the same time. We didn't have lunch since we already had brunch and were able to complete work a little sooner since we had more time to do work instead of eating. We finished up a little before five so I dismissed Marlee and decided to go to the garden earlier. As I reached the ground floor, the guards started shouting at each other.

'Sound the alarm!' one said sending a few guards scurrying all over the place.

'What do we do with her?' a young guard said pointing at me. I saw the head guard swear under his breath as he walked over, he motioned to the guard to follow another.

'We are under attack,'he said as he walked in front of me.

A wave of panic enveloped me, 'Oh no...' He pushed in a part of a wall which revealed a safe room.

I went in quickly and told him,'Tell Maxon I''m alright.'

He nodded and closed the door leaving me in the little safe room. I felt around the wall for the light switch, I pressed it down and for a moment there was nothing but after a few seconds the light bulb flickered and there was light again. I released a breath I did not know I was holding and sat on the bench. The safe room seemed oddly familiar... It dawned upon me that this was the room which Maxon and I were in when we were hit with a rebel attack after the report blowout. I was probably only five minutes in when I started missing Maxon. I decided to take a nap, I lay the blankets down on the floor and gave in to sleep almost immediately when my head touched the makeshift pillow.

 **Maxon's POV**

I paced around the room, not able to sit down. America not being with me during an attack is enough worry, her not being with me while pregnant was even worst. My wife and child is not with me during an attack. I wonder how Carter does it when he has to fight and Marlee is probably in some random safe room, not to mention she is pregnant too. I was getting tired after walking around but there was no way I could rest or sleep. I sat at the edge of the bed and messed with my hair. I decided to rake a short nap since it was getting very late, its has been four hours to be exact so I lay at the side of the bed just like how I would if she was here and closed my eyes.

'Maxon, King Maxon...'Said a voice.

I hoped that it was America but it couldn't be, the voice was too deep to belong to America. I opened my eyes and saw Carter.

'The rebels are gone but...' Carter started as I got up.

'But what?' I demanded fiercely which seemed to startle Carter which I had not meant to, in my mind, I was hopping that America was alright.

'but we were not able to find America.'

I stunned, unable to speak, I felt my face turn white and my pulse drop,'What do you mean you were not able to find her?' I let out weakly.

'We looked through all the safe rooms, she was in none of them. Guards saw one of the guards bring her to a safe room so we know she is definitely in the palace, so all we have to do is wait for one of the safe rooms to open when the two day timer is up.'

I swallowed, and took a deep breath as Carter led me out of the royal safe room.

* * *

It has been a day without America, it's been crazy with all the papers I had to sign for furniture replacement, things that America used to do, but I had hope, there was a reason the safe rooms opening up automatically had been implemented. I would love to send all the guards to wreck their brains to figure out one they haven't opened but there are far too many and they have a job to do as palace guards. I decided to walk around the palace to relax before bed and also to see if any of the doors have opened yet even though it was not two days after the attack. I walked along hallways, hoping to see America just walk down and say 'Hello,' to me like she did everyday. I walked near the hospital wing and stared at the wall which had a safe room behind it. It was the safe room that America and I were in during the rebel attack after America's crazy report presentation. 'What are the odds...' I whispered to no one in particular as I pushed the part of wall that would open the safe room.

The odds were in my favor. Lying under the a blanket was a girl with fiery red hair but something was not quite right. Her breathing was soft, so subtle. Something was wrong. I walked into the safe room, light still on. I tried to wake her up but there was no response. My mind started to linger but I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I lifted her up and carried her to the hospital wing. Doctor Ben was just walking down the aisle, for a break I suppose but stopped short when he saw my rush in with America in my arms.

'You found her?' He asked running over.

'I found her.' I replied, feeling proud.

I put her on a bed and Doctor Ben shouted some orders causing a handful of maids to scurry over. They set up a bunch of equipment and attached things to her, monitoring everything I guess. Doctor Ben whispered some things to the head nurse beside him and walked over to me.

'She fainted while asleep due to something like dehydration and starvation. She will be alright, so I'm going to check on the babies now.' He said.

I nodded for him to go ahead, something like dehydration and starvation Doctor Ben said, probably in simpler terms for my ears... Doctor Ben dismissed the rest of the nurses so that it was only me and him. He attached headphone to a device, pulled up her dress and moved the tool on her belly which was starting to show a little. His head perked up as he moves the tool causing worry to wash over me.

'Is something wrong?' I enquirer.

He shook his head saying,'Have a listen yourself.'

I took the headphones nervously and put them on my head. I could hear a steady heartbeat. 'What's so special about this?' I thought. Doctor Ben moved the device on America's tummy and I started to hear a second heart beat, just as strong as the first. I looked at Doctor Ben, amazed.

'She has...' I stuttered, too awed to speak,'She has twins?' Doctor Ben nodded to confirm my statement. We had not one but two babies on the way!

'You are allowed to stay in here for a while more but please let her rest here.' He instructed as he put back America's dress and started packing up his equipment. I dragged the chair at the corner up to the side of her bed. Rubbing her thumb between mine, I planted a kiss on her forehead and whispered,'You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen and as you have said, one cannot help being born into perfection.'

 **America's POV**

I woke up to see a blinding light above me, 'Where am I?' I thought. I sat up and looked around. Curtains around me, white walls and monitors. I was in the hospital wing. A nurse walked in, seeming groggy and zombie-liked. What time is it? She looked at the monitors then at the clipboard. Finally her eyes moved to me and she seemed to panic for a moment.

'How are you feeling?' She asked.

'Tired, what time is it?'

'It's 6 am. Would you like me to call King Maxon down?'

'No, let him sleep. Just tell one of his guards that I woke up. I'm going back to bed now.' I said as I let out a yawn and snuggled back into the bed.

I saw the nurse shake her head, smiling as she walked out of the area before I closed my eyes.

I felt a hand rubbing my thumb, I still felt tired but I forced myself to open my eyes and get up. There he was. Maxon. Hair messy, still in his sleepwear, my Maxon. He helped me sit up and left a kiss on my cheek.

'America dear, when I found you in the safe room, you had passed out. So Doctor Ben had to do all these tests and we heard the babies' heart beat and well, there were two...'

'Wait, so I have twins?' I answered.

'Yes darling, you have twins.'

I wanted to jump for joy but that would have been a bad idea. I moved over to hug Maxon. 'When can I go back to our room?'

'I'm not sure, Doctor Ben will check on you later but just have plenty of rest and you will be allowed to come back soon, now I have to get to work so...'

'Yes your royal husbandness, go to work.'

He smiled and took off to work. I didn't feel tired anymore so I didn't want to sleep. As the nurse walked in I asked her to call for one of my maids. Instead of one of them walking in, the trio arrived by my bed.

'America, are you feeling better?' Mary asked, concerned.

'Yes, but I'm very bored being in bed, could you go up and fetch some work for me?' they shook their heads in reply.'Please?' I tried.

'Sorry America but Maxon has told us not to let you touch any work while you are still in the hospital.' Paisley said.

'Would you like if we stayed here to keep you company? We could play some games!' Lucy suggested.

I managed a smile and said,' Well, that's better than being here alone...'

Lucy went out of the little area to fetch some games while Mary and Paisley chatted me up.

* * *

I woke up from my nap to two men staring at me. Maxon and Ben. 'What did I do?' I thought. Maxon smiled warmly at me as I sat up.

'We were discussing on the New Years' party at Italy we are going to attend.' Maxon started.

'That I do not encourage but...'

'He will let us go as long as he can come along too.' Maxon finished.

I heaved a sigh of relief,'So when can I go back to my room?'

Maxon bit his lip, I was not going to like the answer,'After the party, you will stay here until the party.' Ben informed me.

He walked out leaving me and Maxon alone,'You alright darling?'

'Yes Maxon. I'm fine, I've been feeling better.'

'I thought I was going to have to fight you.'He said honestly, shrugging leaning back in his chair.

'I can have one more day in this cage.'

'I thought you said the palace was a cage?'

'It is, this space I am in right now is a cage in the big and beautiful cage.' I said starring at the white wall.

We shared a slight smile as we both knew our home was a cage but a beautiful one and also one that brought us together.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello there, here is another chapter on my story. There is a little bit of a cliffhanger at the end because I didn't want to make this chapter too long but the next one will be up as soon as possible. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

I had convinced Ben to release me after lunch so that I could get ready for the trip. I went up to Maxon's room to see him gawking at a suitcase from a distance.

'What are you doing?' I asked.

He looked up at me, startled, 'I'm.. I'm packing?'

I managed not to laugh at his confusion, 'Well come one then, let's get some clothes, one set for the party, one set of sleepwear and one set of casual clothes.' He nodded taking everything in and went to his closet to get the clothes. I went over to my room where the girls were.

'Are you packing?' Paisley asked, eyes perking up.

'Yes, I'm packing now. Is there anything in particular I should bring?' I asked. Paisley practically ran into my closet.

She held a garment bag and passed it to me as I entered, 'We prepared this dress for you for a New Year party...'

'Oh! Thank you, I will bring this to wear at the party.' She smiled as I took the bag and left the closet. I picked out a flowy day dress and a night gown as well as a pair of silver shoes, taking two sets of undergarments just in case.

I went out of the closet and saw my maids sitting on the edge of the bed with a kind of gleam in their eyes. I thought nothing much of it was about to cross to Maxon's room when Mary cleared her throat.

'Miss, you need to have one of us go to Italy with you.' Lucy reminded.

'But it's only for one day!' I exclaimed.

'Sorry America, but it is protocol.' Mary confirmed.

I thought for a moment,'Lucy followed me home during the selection and Mary followed me to Germany for a reception with them. Well, I guess it was only fair for Paisley to join me this time.'

'Paisley, would you like to join me?'

She clapped her hands excitedly in reply,' Of course miss, thank you.'

I smiled and met Mary and Lucy's approving gazes before I left the room. As I closed the door, I could hear Mary and Lucy singing her praises.

Maxon had laid out all of his clothes onto the bed, a shit for the party, sleepwear and a cotton shirt jeans for casual wear. Everything I told him to get, only the things I told him to get.

'Maxon, don't you need to bring underwear? Go and get two sets in case.' I instructed. I placed my clothes on the bed and went to the bathroom to get our toiletries, our combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste and his hair gel. Paisley would be bringing her supplies for my makeup and hair so I did not need to worry on that. I searched the cabinets and found a box of ziplock bags to put in all our toiletries. Maxon was starting to put the clothes in the suitcase. I went over to take a look at how he was doing and was pleasantly surprised, the clothes were neatly stacked into piles, they were not folded very nicely but I had seen worst when Gerad first started helping out with laundry, putting clothes back into the wardrobes was not his favourite. We finished packing and passed the suitcase to one of the guards.

I entered my study to see Marlee hard at work. Once she caught sight of me, she sprung up from her chair, dropping everything she was doing and came up to hug me. We hadn't seen each other for about a week which was a great difference compared to seeing each other almost everyday. We went to the desk and started to do some work although it was mostly chatting instead of working.

'I thought I was only going to see you next year!'

'I managed to convince Ben to release me so that I could pack and finish everything up for the year. I was gone for quite a while, it must have been hard on you to do all of my work by yourself.'

'Well, I didn't do the work alone, Maxon helped out a little with signing signatures and things... Silvia! Oh, Silvia helped a lot. She came in everyday after she was done with preparing work. Apparently she prints out all the folders for us to work on, 'us' being the advisers, Maxon and you.'

'Oh, I'll have to thank Silvia later but thanks for covering for me. I missed you a lot.'

'Me too.' She sighed as she looked at the folder.

We actually managed to get some work done before Maxon came to the door, 'America, we have to get ready to leave.'

'Alright,' I replied, letting out an exasperated sigh as I finished the last statement and closed the folder.

We walked to our respective rooms and I took a quick shower and changed into some comfy clothes for the flight, a big sweater and some shorts. Just as I was done, a knock came from my door. 'Coming...' I shouted to Maxon.

* * *

We walked to the shiny, slick black car in front of the palace. A butler was putting in the suitcase at the back of the car. We drove to the airport with a car in front and behind us as usual.

We reached the airport and everyone came out from the car to escort us to the plane. Maxon and I walked on the red carpet where Illeans were to cheer us on. A few were holding up sign boards as the rest cheered. We had a flight to catch to we did a brief sweep and went on the plane. Everyone had gotten on the plane before us including Lucy and Ben. Everyone took a seat on the plane and it took off and soon enough, we were in the air. Packet food was being passed around for dinner since everyone didn't eat dinner at the palace to refrain from people having motion sickness on the journey to the airport.

We had speghetti and iced water for dinner. Later, Maxon and I went to the back of the plane, our private suite. The suitcase was already placed on the table for our convenience. We opened it and took out our sleepwear to change into. There was nothing much to do on the plane so we slept for most of the 11 hour flight. I woke up early the next day, about five in the morning since we slept at nine. I was surprised to see Maxon already up and looking into the suitcase for something using his only source of light, the dim lamp above the table.

'What are you looking for?' I said as I sat up.

'For our toothbrushes.' He replied in a frustrated tone.

I walked to the door to our suite where the main light switch was and switched on the lights. I stood there letting my eyes adjust to the sudden change before going to the table. Tucked away at a corner of our suitcase was a ziplock bag biking out. I stretched over to fish it out from the pool of clothes. Maxon noticed and beat me to it, taking it out swiftly. He fiddled with the bag and managed to get it open.

He took out the toothbrush and said,'I'm going to brush my teeth first.'

I nodded and decided to comb my hair out while waiting. He came back a few minutes later, all smiles like his usual self. He came over to me at the bed and kissed my temple before he walked over to the table to take out his comb and put back his toothbrush. I finished combing my hair and took my toothbrush to brush my teeth. As I went into the bathroom, Maxon came up behind me with his comb and gel. I stepped aside so that he had a place to put down his comb and gel beside the sink. I finished with my teeth but stayed at the toilet. I leaned against the wall watching Maxon do his hair. I had never really seen him do his hair since I woke up late when we went to the reception in Germany. First, he combed through his hair and parted it to match his usual formal hairstyle. Next, he carefully applied gel at certain parts of his hair that seemed crucial that it stayed the same for the hairstyle. As he put in the finishing touches he shared a smile with me through the mirror.

'Looking at me are you?' He asked in a seducing tone.

I tried hard not to blush but it didn't seem to work. In a few seconds, he clashed our lips together. I had missed this, we hadn't kissed in a while since we agreed not to do anything inappropriate while I was pregnant and somehow that stopped us from kissing. Well, until now. I could feel how intense his kisses were, how much he longed for this and his feeling towards me.

We managed to stop after a while but all I wanted after that was more. 'I love you,' I said as my fingers ran along his jaw line. He gave me a soft kiss on my forehead and left without a word.

I followed behind him and saw him take out our casual clothes as well as a set of underwear for each of us. 'Come on, let's change.' He said.

I eyed him as he locked the door to our suite. 'Are you going to change?' He asked as he tugged at his shirt to take it off. I walked to the bed cautiously. 'This isnt happening' I thought. I took off my night gown, thinking of what would happen once I stripped down but I was caught off guard. He spun me around and unbuckled my bra. It happened so fast, it all passed in a blur. He pushed me into the bed playfully and pulled the covers above us which was a good call. We would not want anyone to see what we were doing although we didn't go very far. We were tempted but other than kissing, we didn't do anything else since we still wanted to abide to what we had said even though we were close to crossing the thin line.

Eventually, we stopped and actually got dressed. Everyone was already up and ready.

'You know...' Maxon said as he poked at his waffles,'It's going to be 11 at night when we land.'

Everyone's attention turned to Maxon, all caught off guard, even me. How did I not know this?

'Are you serious?' One of the guards said, clearly already exhausted.

'I kid you not.' Maxon replied.

I slumped back down into the chair and ate the rest of my waffles.

Everyone sat in a circle on the chairs to play card games one of the guards brought along. Maxon and I paired up while the guards sorted themselves up. Lucy and Ben decided not to join in and watched in silence. I looked around at the people in the circle and realized how normal were in that moment. A bunch of young adults, seventeen too 23 playing card games. From an outsiders' eye it was probably unbelievable that a bunch of young adults could run a country but so far, nothing but good has been done although our ancestors probably aren't very happy with us removing the castes and so on but it's the people's happiness that we strive for.

'Passengers, please take your seats and prepare for landing.' The pilot announced through the public address system.

Everyone threw their cards on the table and passed them to the owner of the cards, Jerry.

The plane landed smoothly and since it was almost midnight in their time, the airport was quiet which was a nice change compared to the crowd at the airport back home where masses of people where crowded around us. We quickly filed into the palace cars they had sent to pick us up and we were on our way to the palace.

The cars had beige leather seats and had a polished dark wood interior. It was of a simple design, two rows of seats facing each other just like the ones back home. I took in the scenic views, at night, everything was beautifully lit up but I was a a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to see Italy when the sun was up. It was a relatively short journey to the palace in Italy.

The car drove past the giant hates in the walls that surrounded the palace. We went along the roundabout around a fountain and came to a stop at the front of the palace. Guards came up to the car to open the doors, stiff as their starched uniforms. Another pair of guards opened the doors to the palace as Maxon and I walked up the steps. One of them led us into the main lobby. I took in all the fine details engraved in the columns along the walls. Large murals were painted on the walls, with extraordinary detail I dreamt to see some day. Around the corner was Nicolletta carrying a huge grin but the tiredness in her eyes could be seen by anyone.

'Hello Princess Nicolletta, heir to the Italy throne,' I greeted.

'It's a pleasure Queen America and King Maxon.' She replied, playing along.

Maxon chuckled at our act and bowed to Nicolletta.

'Let me bring you two to your room.' She said before she let out a yawn.

'Oh Nicolleta, you didn't need to welcome us personally, it is already late, you could have asked a guard or maid to bring us to our room.' I told her as she led us down the main hallway where a staircase was at as well as multiple doors.

'Well, I have to do something as a contribution to this party, Mom has been working so hard to set this party up. I have no idea how you do it America! Holding parties all the time, I guess I just took for granted that Illea would always be holding the parties...' She trailed on as we went up the stairs, something that needed more effort by the day.

'Breakfast would be sent to your room at seven and I could give you two a tour around the palace if you like, maybe around eight.' She suggested.

'Thanks for the offer,' Maxon replied.

Nicolletta waved goodbye and went down along the hallway. Maxon got the honor of opening the door and so he did. The room was like the guest rooms at home but bigger, better and overall, it looked absolutely amazing.

I have wanted to redo all the rooms in the palace ever since I went to see the palaces in Germany and Italy but with the constant rebel attacks which caused so much broken furniture and torn wallpaper, there was no way we could afford it, it would be too costly to replace everything. Not to mention, it is just a home and we want to focus our spendings on our people.

The room was absolutely spectacular, from the gold details on the ceiling to the lavishly carpeted floor. Everything looked new. There was a dark wooden headboard with red bedsheets and a white comforter. I flopped onto it and Maxon came and did the same beside me. I gave out a steady sigh, this was amazing. I got up before my eyes shut because I wanted to explore the rest of the room first. The toilet had a black and white tile pattern, polished. Everything was top of the line, pristine shower, tub and sink. I pushed open the glass door and stepped onto the balcony and took in the fresh air. There was a slight wind passing through, causing the leaves to tussle and my hair to rise and fall. Maxon was standing at the corner of the balcony, looking at the city in Italy.

'Should have taken my camera.' He muttered as he shifted his gaze to me.

'Yeah, this view is amazing.'

'Breathtaking.'

'Beg your pardon...'

'I said, you look breathtaking right now.'

I couldn't help but blush at his words. I walked back into the room and took out our sleepwear so that we had something to sleep in. Maxon closed the door and pulled down the blinds and with his cheeky smile, there was no denying what he was up to. We changed quickly and continued what we were up to on the plane.

* * *

I woke up from the sound of the chriping of birds. I looked up at Maxon, he was stretching but it didn't look like he was going to wake up. I poked my finger at his side but he wouldn't budge. I gave him a small kiss on the cheek, knowing it was the only thing that would get him to wake up and he did. He sat up and let me snuggle up next to me. We lay against the headboard for a few moments until we felt like it was time to get up. Sleeping was a great plan since it helped me with the jet lag I would usually face so that convenient since I felt great that morning. We took our casual clothes to change into and sat at the table to eat breakfast. A tray was already place on it with a short note:

 _Breakfast! I will be at your door at eight-thirty sharp for a quick tour so get ready!_

 _\- Nic_

I glanced at the clock, eight. We had about half an hour before Nicolletta was going to come so we ate a little faster. There was bread and butter as well as fruit punch for breakfast. We stood at the looking at the city in the morning, there were more colors that could be seen and I preferred seeing the city in the daylight than at night. Houses were of a wide array of colors and the greenery was pleasing to the eyes. We heard a knock on the door so I left the balcony to open it.

'Come in.' Maxon said behind me as he closed the door to the balcony.

'Hey guys, you all ready?' She asked.

She was energized and bubbly again. We nodded and she led us down the stairs to the main lobby where we first were when we arrived. We walked to the hallway on the left where there were a few sets of double-doors open.

'This is the ball room where the party will be held at.' She said as we walked into the massive room that had a dance floor as well as tables and chairs set-up.

We went through the hallway on the right next where we entered a room as big as the one we were in previously however, there were art easels, musical instruments as well as a large television at one end of the room which was surrounded by a bookcase which had tons of books as well as a few disks.

'Woah.' Maxon whispered.

'This is our recreational room, there is a gym section over there,' she said as she pointed at the gym equipment lining the wall.

We exited the room and went up to the second floor when we crossed paths with Mrs Cavallo, Nicolletta's mother, the Queen of Italy. However, she looked worried, tired and stressed.

'Oh Queen America! I'm so glad I ran into you. I'm sorry to interrupt your tour but I need your help. Something is amiss.'


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone, here is the next chapter to my fan fiction. I feature a few books in this chapter and I want to say that the credit goes to their authors for the titles. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter of As The Ones.**

 **Ps. I use a little Italian in the chapter, please do not fault me if anything is wrong because I do not study Italian, and I'm not ashamed to say but I got everything off Google Translate.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Oh Queen America! I'm so glad I ran into you. I'm sorry to interrupt your tour but I need your help. Something is amiss.'

'What is it?'

'Follow me to the kitchen and I will explain.' she said, taking the lead.

I looked up at Maxon, worried as to what had happened. He reassured me with a squeeze of my hand. We walked to the party room, through a door at the back that had a staircase leading downwards.

'Queen America, we have a shortage of ingredients and staff, we wouldn't be able to serve all the meals in time, what do you recommend us to do?'

'Where does the palace usually get its ingredients?'

'We have a supplier but they are not able to send any over.'

'Are there any farmers' markets nearby? You could send some cooks there to get ingredients.'

'Is that possible?' She asked a stout man who was standing had come to stand beside her.

'Sì, we can make that happen... But there is the issue of staff.' The head chef pointed out.

'Well, you could host a buffet. That way you could serve up food when the party begins and continue cooking food, serving them as the party continues. It would take a lot of work but it will be worth it.'

'Splendidio, that could work.'

'Are there any other problems Queen Cavallo?' I asked seeing the expression on her face.

'Capocuoco, have some of your chefs go down to the nearest farmers market to get the ingredients. Give them an update that we are having a buffet instead. America, for a buffet I just need a main table for the food, yes?'

'Yes,' I confirmed. As we walked back into the party room.

'Nicolletta, could you tell a maid to set up a table over here?' She asked pointing to an empty wall.

'Okay mom.'

'I could help you to settle the buffet.' I offered.

'Oh thank you so much America!' she embraced, 'I still have other things to tend to.'

She left the room and I followed Nicolletta to the hallway,'Sorry we have work to do now.'

'It's alright, as long as I'm with you.' He said genuinely with a smile.

We saw a maid walking to Nicoletta a few moments later,'The Queen would like to see you in her office Nicolletta,'

'Alright but please have a table set up in the party room.'

'Yea, the Queen has already told me this.'

'Alright, I'll have to leave you two here, approach any of the staff if in doubt, see you at the party and thank you for your help again.' She said to us before leaving to see her mother.

'Queen America, would you come with me to see which tables are most suitable for the buffet?'

'Gladly,' I replied,' Could I know your name?'

'I'm Adelle.' She replied confidently.

I nodded, playing the name over in my head as she led us down to the hallway at the right, through the door at the end. It was pitch black in the room and Adelle felt along the wall for what I assumed was the light switch. A light came on a few seconds later after I heard a click. We were in a store room, chairs were stacked up at a corner and table were pushed to one side of the room.

'There are table cloths in the cupboard.' She said, pointing to a grey metal cupboard. I looked at the tables in the room, there was one design which was a circular wooden table, it looked really fancy but there was only two of those and that wouldn't be enough. My eyes immediately searched for the longest table available. One was as long as the wall but it was far too thin. The next best thing was a wooden table but that wasn't quite long enough. 'One that can place a few more plates.' I thought, squinting my eyes as I searched the room again. My eyes fell upon the two circular tables I noticed previously. I looked at the three tables, they were made of a similar wood and their designs were compatible.

'Could you get those two circular tables as well as that table?'

'Good choices madm, you could choose the table cloths while I have someone bring the tables to the party room.

'Of course.'

I walked over to the cupboard and took out the table cloths. We needed three, two circular ones and one for the long table.

'What do you think Maxon?' I asked once I had laid out all of them on a table.

'New Years... Something gold or white? But let's see what will fit the tables first.' He suggested.

We sorted through the table cloths and we had a much smaller selection now and came up with two sets of table cloths for the tables. One set consisted of cream coloured table cloths while the other was a smooth gold colour with gold sequins at the end.

'We should go with white,'he stated

'Yes. Good choice my royal husbandness.' I joke,'And why is that your choice?'

'The gold one is nice but too gold for my taste. The cream coloured table cloths look simple which I would prefer since it is after all a table cloth, a background sort of.' He explained.

I had to give it to him, he did surprise me with his taste and fantastic explanation,'Wow, I guess it's not only one of us that's artistic.' I praised picking up the rest of the table cloths to put them back in the cupboard. I caught him blush a little which melted my heart. He looked absolutely adorable. I took the cream coloured table cloths from the table and left the room with Maxon behind me. He turned off the lights and closed the door behind us. We made our way to the party room together. Adelle was at a corner with Nicolletta. Nicolletta waved us over when she saw us coming.

'I've got the table cloths.' I informed.

'Thank you...' She said as I passed them over, 'Again, we are very sorry to have interrupted your stay but you may enjoy the rest of it before the party. We have everything under control.'

'Oh, it's nothing,' I assured,'Let's go back to our room,' I told Maxon. He agreed and we went up to our room since I wanted to experience the party as the other guests would and I was starting to get tired. We made it up to the room and I collapsed on the bed. Maxon pulled up my dress to kiss my baby, at least where he thinks my baby is at.

'Hey! You're starting to show.' He whispered excitedly.

'Are your sure?' I said getting up to walk to the full length mirror. He didn't reply as I walked over to the mirror. I lifted my dress to find a small bump forming on my stomach. 'So this is real...' I thought as I moved my hand went over the bump. Up till this point, being pregnant didn't feel really real since I didn't feel different other than getting tired easily since I had medicine for nauseousness. Maxon came up behind me hugging me gently from behind.

'Your two little angels.'

'Our two little angels.' I corrected.

* * *

After our little nap, Paisley woke me up to help me get ready. I had a quick rinse before putting on the dress for the party. It was a little flowy, probably to cover my bump, it was a light shade of pink and had ruffles on it. Paisley completed my make up and I slid on my silver shoes. Maxon had started packing and was already looking dashing in his suit. We finished packing and passed the suit case to a guard outside the door to put in the palace car we were going home in. We went down to join the party, late, but no one really noticed.

Nicolletta immediately walked over when we stepped into the party room,'Thank you for your help earlier and of course, thanks for coming.' She embraced.

'It's our pleasure.' Maxon returned.

'Now to greet the other five hundred guests!' She said.

I giggled as she left and Maxon laughed along.

'It's a nice change to not greet five hundred guests and be greeted.'

'No kidding!' I agreed. We walked to the buffet table with our plates to take some food. The two circular tables were on the side and the long one in between the two. There was a wide array of foods served. I took a moment to look at the decorations, firecrackers and confetti were not the only decorations they put up. They hung up colorful streamers. 'So they went all out.' I thought with a smile. We took our food and ate at our table. Seated at our table were the Germans who looked great. For a second I wanted to greet them and thank them for coming to the party but I didn't host this party now did I? I was able to stop myself before I did anything embarrassing and we just greeted them casually and ate our food.

* * *

I looked at the evening skyline of Angeles as I started to see the facade of the palace. It was almost six in the evening, the time difference was absolutely insane. The car pulled up at the entrance of the palace. We were back home. It felt like it had been forever since we were back at the palace with the time difference and travel time although we had only been gone for about two days. We immediately split up when we were at the third floor to get to work. Marlee was in my study completing the last of the folders.

'Hello Marlee!'

'Welcome back America.'

'Thank you, I missed you.'

'Me too.' There was a moment of awkward silence before I decided to move to my desk to help her out with work since I did none of that while I was away. For the rest of the time, there was a slight awkward silence hung in the air which honestly made me uncomfortable.

'How was the trip?' She finally asked.

'It was good, we played card games while traveling which was fun but we had to travel a lot to get there. The food was alright. Oh, the palace! Their palace is really beautiful.'

'How was Carter?'

'He didn't get into trouble,' I assured,'I should probably let you off now, you can go see Carter.'

'You always know what I want.' She said, taking my offer.

'It's the least I could do for your help.'

She curtsied slightly and left. Only a little since she was pregnant and her belly was starting to make it difficult. I finished up the work and signed everything that I needed to acknowledge and approve. By the end of the signing, my wrist started to hurt as I had never signed so many papers at once before. I sneaked over to Maxon's room and opened the door slightly to take a peak. He was still going through papers. 'Maybe this is a chance for me to set up a date,' I thought. A maid walked past me as I closed the door.

'Excuse me,' I said gently, she immediately stopped in her tracks and turned to me.

'At your service, your majesty.'

'Could you come to my study with me.' I asked before turning back and going into the room. She followed behind me quietly and I could feel her body tense. 'Would you happen to know if Maxon is holding a date tonight?'

'He isn't.'

'Is there one he has planned for the coming week?'

She hesitated but spilled,'He has none planned for next week but one for tomorrow night. You two are watching a movie and having dinner at the theatre.'

'Would it be too much trouble to bring that forward to tonight?' I asked even though I had a feeling it was on too short of a notice for them to prepare.

She thought for a moment before replying,'It would be possible. It could be settled by eight-thirty.'

'Alright thank you,' I said. Then, I thought of something. I scribbled the words down on a post-it ' _Tugging my ear at 8, dress down._ ' 'Hold on, could you pass this to him for me?' I said handing her the note.

'Of course your majesty, have a good day.'

'Thank you, you too.' I replied.

By then it was already seven-thirty so I called for my maids to have them help get me ready. They came in almost immediately, panting and breathing breathlessly. I helped close the door behind them,'You guys don't need to rush coming up you know?'

'We were racing, and I won,' Lucy said proudly.

Mary gave a sigh and shook her head at Lucy's mischievousness,'So what's the matter America?'

'I have set-up a date with Maxon and I need help to get ready.'

'Ooooo...' Paisley cooed which sent us into laughter.

'Alright, let's get you ready for your date.' Mary said bringing us back on track.

I had a steamy shower before putting on my dress, a light blue gradient day dress that I matched with a pair of white shoes. They helped me with my makeup, putting on only a little to cover my blemishes and giving my hair light curls. I left for the garden at eight sharp and saw Maxon through a window, already seated on the bench anticipating my arrival. He stood up to take my hand as I approached.

'What are your plans for tonight?'

'Well we are going to have dinner while we watch a movie, and, these plans aren't exactly mine.' I ended with a cheeky smile.

'You moved my plans for tomorrow to today.'

'Yup.'

He gave a little laugh as we came to a stop under a tree,'So I'm initiating this date.'

'You could say so.'

'You need lessons on setting up dates.' he said staring into my eyes.

'I do.' I admitted,'So where do we start?'

'Lesson 1,' he said,'Kiss.' At that, he bent forward to me and kissed me just like what you would see in the movies.

I returned the kiss and we pulled back moments later. I stared into his chocolate brown eyes.

'You're beautiful.'

'I love you.' I said,'Now, teach me how to kiss.'

* * *

We walked back into the palace and headed for the theatre to watch the movie Maxon had picked out which I had no idea what it was. We didn't get popcorn since we already had food waiting for us at our seats. After we settled in, the lights dimmed and and a light was shone from the projector. The screen shrank a little and the movie started playing. 'The Fault In Out Stars' it's called. It is an old movie from way back before the Third World War but Maxon and I like these antiques as there are better storylines. I have actually heard of this movie before, it is said to be a very touching movie but I haven't watched it yet so I hope it lives up to its remarks.

The movie was so touching, it was about a girl and a boy like most movies but this one was different, the two teens had Cancer, at that time it was something that could not be cured. The two fall in love after meeting in support group. It was remarkable, perfection, compared to the movies that are created now.

'Did you like it?' Maxon asked as they rolled the credits.

'I didn't like it, I loved it!'

'This was based of a book.' He said before finishing up his food.

'A book?'

'Yeah.'

'Woah. That's so cool!'

'I know right, I heard that a few other movies from that time were also from books, I wish they still did that.'

'Do you think they have the book in the library?'

'We could go and check that out.'

'Let's go now.' I said as I ate the last bit of food. We went out of the theatre and to the library. I followed Maxon to the back of the library which held the older books. The books were arranged according to their titles so I looked through section of books that started with 'The' which was a large section of books. A few titles caught my eye like 'The Maze Runner' and 'The Hunger Games'. I found it, at the far left of the bookshelf sat a blue book with the words'The Fault In Our Stars'.

'I found it!' I shouted over to Maxon who was at the far right. I walked over to him, mesmerized by how old it looked, the colour of the words were fainting, but they could be read. I was busy looking down at the book that I didn't realize I was walking right towards Maxon. I hit his side and fumbled backwards.

'Maybe you should look up more?' He suggested sarcastically.

'Want to take a look?' I offered.

'Don't mind if you do.' He replied taking the book.

He flipped through the first couple of pages before speaking,'This one has held up well, better than most.'

'Yeah.' I replied not sure of what else to say.

'I'm reading it first.'

'Hey! I suggested it!'

'Ahh, but I am holding it. Let's go back to our room, how about I read it to you?'

'Stroy time with Maxon, sounds good.'

We entered our bedroom and we climbed into bed after washing up. I snuggled up next to Maxon as he began. His narrating was on point but I felt like I would prefer reading the book.

After the first ten pages I spoke,'Let's go to sleep Maxon, I'm tired.'

'Alright darling.' He said putting the book on the bedside table he switched off the lamps and I helped myself into a cozy position under the covers.

'Goodnight darling.'

'Goodnight Maxon.'


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone, I'm sad to say that the Fan Fiction will be coming to an end. However, the chapters after this will be a little longer until the last chapter. I might be adding an epilogue so tell me what you think. This chapter takes place a few weeks after the last chapter so I hope you enjoy the rest of the Fan Fiction. :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

As the days go by my bump becomes more obvious. We decided to announce my pregnancy on Maxon's birthday at his party. We have talked about it with Ben and he has given us the green light stating that the babies are healthy. Maxon's birthday would be on a Monday which means we will tell the country and our family members on the same day. We would have someone to film Maxon's speech part about me being pregnant so that we could put that on the report.

Mary, Paisley and Lucy have been hard at work coming up with maternity clothes for me as well as adjusting some flowy dresses that I had to cover up my bump and thanks to them, no one suspected anything. The last few weeks since the New Years passed by so fast and here I am getting ready for Maxon's birthday party. I have been doing more work since Marlee is in her third trimester and is on maternity leave until she gives birth. She came to visit me last week since she lived near by and was bored. She told me how she was lonely at home most of the time since Carter worked at the palace for most of the day.

Many guards live in the palace since while some higher up have the privilege to live in an apartment near by, Maxon and I gave the Woodworks a house. However, the guards higher up do have a personal room in the palace as well.

Maxon and I invited Marlee and Carter to live with us but since there were no guest bedrooms on the third floor, we offered them one on the second floor. We did a little renovation so in the end they occupied two rooms which made up one big room for the two of them. However, I'm not sure what happened to their old home...

'Are you ready?' Maxon said in front of the door to the hallway.

'Yup.'

We went out of our room and to the room where the party was held. As we strode onto the raised platform, a hush spread across the small crowd. Mom was there with Kenna, May and Gerad. Adele was there too standing next to Marlee and Carter.

The red light was on and Maxon started to speak,'Thank you everyone for coming to my 21st birthday party and you have probably noticed but I have a very special announcement to make. The love of my life, America Schreave,' he said as he took my hand,'she, is pregnant with twins.'

The room erupted into cheers, as Maxon planted a kiss on my lips. The red light turned off and the cameraman gave us a thumbs up and started packing his equipment. We walked down the stage where Mom was ready to give me a hug.

After all the well wishes from everyone, Kenna came over as Maxon excused himself to talk to Adele.

'Congrats Ames, and I already knew.'

'How?' I asked, flabbergasted since I thought we covered up well.

'Well, firstly you fainting when we came over that day. Your stamina is good, I know that. You wouldn't faint from getting up like that. Secondly, the whipped cream. That one was pretty easy.'

'Did you tell anyone?'

'No... I know there are procedures and stuff like that around here. No point making your life difficult.'

'Thanks.'

'When are you having your baby shower?'

'I don't know.' I replied but I was really excited for it. I was excited for all the things I could do now that everyone knew I was pregnant. In hindsight there isn't much more I could do but knowing that everyone knew I was pregnant made me really excited after hiding it for so long.

* * *

The party went on for a little longer until the evening time when everyone went home. I was exhausted but we had to start getting ready for the report for tonight. I had a quick change of clothes and Mary helped patch up my makeup while Lucy did my hair. I felt uncomfortable with oily hair and aching feet from being in high-heels all day but I managed to have a smile on my face when I walked out of the door to Maxon.

We went down to the filming room where one of the crew members passed us a folder containing the script. Gravril helped us with the script for this week's report. We told him the news and he was overjoyed volunteering to come up with a script and suggesting that we recorded Maxon's speech at the party to put up on the report. He walked over grinning from ear to ear.

'Congratulations, again. I hear that the news is already spreading to the other provinces.'

'Thank you, let's go over the script.' Maxon suggested.

We looked over everything ones and practiced a couple of times, first Gravril and Maxon would be on the stage, Maxon giving an update on stocks since we haven't done that in a while and then Gravril would announce for the video. After, we would have a Questions and Answers type thing and lastly we would sign off.

Maxon's and Gravril's opening went by rather quickly and before I knew it, the clip was played. I went on stage to take a seat next to Maxon so that I was in position when the clip finished playing. Maxon gave my hand a soft squeeze as the small crowd in the video erupted into cheers. The lights came on again and we were live.

'Congratulations to our King and Queen. Now, how does it feel to know you are about to be a Dad.'

'It is very exciting to be having my first child, there are many things we still do not know which we are learning everyday.'

'And how far along are you, America.'

'14 weeks,' I answered, surprising myself at how shy I sounded.

'Is there any chance you know what gender the babies are and if not, what genders are you hoping for?'

'We still do not know the genders of the babies but we are hoping for one of each gender however we will be happy if we have two boys or two girls.'

'Lovely,' Gravril commented before giving us another series of questions.

'That is all we have for you today Illea, goodnight.' He announced.

As I got off the stage with Maxon, a young girl came over, she had a bubbly smile on her face with bright blue eyes.

'I want to congratulate you on the baby on behalf of the camera crew, we wish you a healthy pregnancy.'

'Thank you very much,' Maxon said.

'We are very happy to have your support.' I said.

Without another word, she curtsied and went back to her team. Maxon seemed to be beaming as we walked back to his room, his hold was tighter, he stood taller, smile brighter. It was great to see him so happy.

In his room, there were a pile of presents and a few packages. We had not even gone through his presents yet! There were so many though which was a little strange since we didn't invite that many people. I glanced over a pile of presents and relished that a few of them had my name on them. Actually, more than a few. About half of them. Then it hit me, I hadn't received my birthday presents yet due to the rebel attack. Maxon must have told them. 'What are these?' I asked Maxon, pointing to the packages that were flown in.

'Oh,' he replied cheekily,'these are books.'

'Books?'

'Let me be more specific, pregnancy books.'

'Oh, so which group of things should we go through first?'

'Well, let's start with your presents since it is long overdue.'

'Okay,' I replied.

We went through the presents, most of them were just clothes. I guess most of them put in all their ideas into the Christmas presents. With all the clothes in a huge pile, it was time for us to go through the packages. It felt like Christmas all over again but this one revolved around the babies and my pregnancy. There was a trilogy, one book for each trimester, a labour book and one big one which had a few pages on every week of a pregnancy.

'You're so thoughtful Maxon.' I cooed.

'It's for the babies.' He retorted.

'I never would have thought of this.' I replied genuinely.

'Well, now we have a lot to read.' He admitted.

I heaved a sigh and put the books in a pile before putting them into one of the bookshelves. I placed the books on the first and second trimester on the bedside tabl for reading tomorrow if I was up early.

* * *

I got up after hearing some mumbling. I looked over to see Maxon reading the book on the first trimester. He was already almost done which surprised me although it was a short book.

'Up already?' I asked.

'Oh, did I wake you up darling?'

'No,' I lied.

'You should continue resting dear.'

'I'm not tired anymore and I want to read.' I said trying to reach for the book.

'Fine, I just browsed through this book and it isn't very important per say so you can skip out on this.' He said as he got up to walke to the bookshelf.

He came back with the big book, and skipped right ahead, probably to the week I'm in now. We continued reading until it was time for us to get ready. I felt like a student again, learning from a book... I went into my room to get ready to see Mary and Lucy. 'Is Paisley still unwell?' I asked concerned since she was not here either yesterday.

'Yes, we went to see her yesterday,'

'The doctor said that she has a stomach bug and will stay at the infirmary for a few days.'

'Oh, please give her my well wishes when you see her later, I will try to make time to see her myself but...'

'We understand.' Mary said with a sigh.

'Well, for now it will just be us,' just like the good old times, almost, I added in my head. Nostalgia started knocking at the door and I think for a moment all of us were as small smiles crept onto our faces. I heaved an audible sigh as I recalled all the crazy things that happened.

'Alright, let's get you ready,' Mary said putting her hands together.

Lucy and I perked up and gave a weak smile to each other before Mary dragged me to the bathroom. I had a brisk cleaning and got dressed. Today I was in a purple dress which showed off my new curves from the babies. It was simple but sometimes less is more. They did my hair and makeup before I left for my study.

Just as the door closed behind me I heard Mary say,'It is amazing how far we have come.'

'Yup.' Lucy agreed, I couldn't have said it better myself.

I entered my study to see Marlee,'You're not supposed to be in here!'

'Calm down, I'm just here with the papers to tell you some news since I have nothing better to do. By the way, nice dress and comgrats on the babies.'

'Thanks Marlee,' I said as I closed the door,'So what news is there today?'

'Top news, you're pregnant. There are pages of people congratulating you, parties were also held. Everyone was overjoyed at the news.'

'That's good.' I replied hesitantly before I started with my work.

This week's work was mainly getting ready for the election of advisors. Campaigns have been set up by communities who had a few people who wanted to be an adviser. We needed to go through all of their backgrounds before we can start with phase two which will take place next week where they have the whole week to rally and have people vote for them. And the. The last phase on the Monday after that which would be the voting phase where stations would be set up for citizens to vote. Maxon had briefed the nation on this new voting we are undertaking and everyone rejoiced. There were only a couple of campaigns that still needed their backgrounds check and after that we are all set for the voting. We still have not decided how often the voting will take place. We are considering every two years but that is not confirmed yet.

So far all of the campaigns I have checked are clean but there are a few which seem suspicious so I have a group of guards to do further digging. I was able to wrap out all of my work by noon. 'Maxon must've stolen some of my folders again.' I thought. But I decided to wait until after I had eaten my lunch to confront him.

I ate lunch with Marlee and saw a dollop of jam at the corner of her plate.

'What is this?' I asked teasingly.

'Well what's this?' She said pointing to my whipped cream.

'Cravings.'

'And there's your answer.' She said proudly.

I burst out laughing and we ate our food as we chatted. We finished up and Marlee excused herself back to her room to take a nap. I went over to Maxon's room and saw him going over a folder.

'Maxon.' I said trying to sound menacing.

'What is it darling?'

'You stole my work again didn't you?'

'Yes.' He conceded.

'Can I have it back.'

'No.'

'Please?'

'Alright,' He said taking out the two thinnest folders out of the pile.

'Are you serious?' I asked as he held them out to me.

'It's either this or no work at all.'

'Fine...'

As I went back to my study, I realized why he chose these two folders, they were about the reception we had planned to hold. It was supposed to be held last month but we didn't have time for it. The first folder had background information on the Afridians, it was mainly on their culture and the things they liked and didn't like. The first thing on the list in the second folder was 'Food'. I took a trip down to the kitchen.

Just as I went in, Kelly came forward,'How may I help you, your highness?'

'We are holding a reception for the Afridians some time soon, do you have any recipes from there?'

'Oh yes, we have quite a few. We could have a tasting tomorrow, Wednesday. Is that alright with you?'

'Yes, that will be fine, thank you.'

'It's our pleasure.' She said before walking back to the swarm of cooks to give them instructions.

I jotted down the timing on the second folder which I had brought along with me. Since I was near the hospital wing, I decided to give Paisley a visit. I went down the hallways to the infirmary. There were many curtains surrounding the beds. I thought Lucy was the only one but I guess not. A handful of beds were taken. Did all of them have a stomach bug?

A nurse saw me and came over,'Is everything alright?'

'Yes, I'm here to see Paisley.'

'Oh, how kind, she is over there.' She said pointing to a curtained bed nearest to the door.

'Thank you, do you happen to know why there are so many people here?'

'It is because of the stomach bug going around. Please do not stay for too long either your highness.'

'I won't, thank you.' She curtsied and went on her way. 'Stomach bug, eh?' I thought.

I went behind the curtain and saw Mary and Lucy with Paisley. 'Hello girls,' I greeted.

'America, you didn't have to come to see me.' Paisley said as she tried to sit up properly.

'It's alright, I was just passing by. How are you feeling?'

'A lot better than yesterday.'

'Alright. Have fun you three but remember to rest Paisley.' She nodded and I left them to continue with their game of cards. I felt guilty to not be able to be there for Paisley when she was sick since they were there when I was but with work, I couldn't possibly do it especially now that Maxon is probably already stealing half of it and Marlee isn't here to help me out anymore.

I called Silvia into my study to help me out with the reception. We managed plan everything inone sitting. Planning receptions was a lot like planning a small party. It was easy in that since but there were many things we didn't know which led to us guessing or taking risks which is not my favourite.

Just as we finished everything, a boy with honey blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes poked his head into the room. He reached for his ear and gave it a tug. I reached up to mine and tugged it trying not to look awkward I front of Silvia.

'Alright, I think that's it for now. Would you like me to come in and help in place of Marlee?' She said as she finished checking the files.

'No, it's been alright, I will tell you if I need help.'

'Okay.' She replied.

As she stood to leave, Maxon's head ducked out of view. I heard Silvia greeting Maxon and him excusing her before he came in.

'Hello dear.' He said as I walked up.

'Yes Maxon?' I answered as I stood up.

'Nothing much, I was just wondering if you happened to remember our check up with Doctor Ben.'

'Of course,' I lied,'Lets go now.'

We went down to the hospital wing, I was actually excited since I haven't had a check up since last month and I was hoping for an ultrasound.

As always, Ben was already there, expectantly waiting for us. He asked me to sit down and took my blood preassure. Next came the series of long questions. This was what I noted as the boring part of check ups, the more exciting part was one I lay on the bed. Well, it is sometimes gross too. He took my weight this time, he said it was to see how much the babies were growing.

After what seemed like forver, he asked me to change and lay on the bed. This time he did something new, he felt my belly. It felt soothing but awkward on another hand since no one felt my belly other than Maxon and me. When I saw my belly I started to wonder how we hid it in the first place. Once he was done, he took the contraption to listen to the babies' heartbeats. 'Can we do an ultrasound?'

'Not until your check up next month when you're at 20 weeks.'

'Okay...' I said. Hearing their heartbeats was better than nothing anyway.

Their heartbeats filled the room, strong and steady, what I liked to hear...


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello, I have another chapter of the fanfic for you today, enjoy.**

 **Ps. Do not get offended by how I describe the people from Afridia, keep in mind that America has never met people from there before.**

 **Pss. I am going to start excepting name suggestions so please start leaving names for the babies, thank you.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Cooks placed the plates of food into the large table. Marlee had joined me to help but I think it's mostly for the food. I loved and hated this process. I loved it because the palace food was delicious but I hate it because there is always too much food. Maybe because we are both pregnant we can finish the food this time?

They finished putting down all the plates of food and went on to put a card with a number on it so that it was easier for us to recognize the dishes that we wanted to serve at the party. We had our materials at hand and we started.

Everything was absolutely delicious so it was hard to narrow it down to one dish for each course. The food seemed very spicy for some dishes so we decided to avoid those for the party. Kelly recommended for us to choose one of the breads since Afridians ate at least one type of bread before anything else. We chose tomato soup as the starter. It was thick and flavorful. However it was different from the one we usually had, this one had a bit of rice in it and it was a little spicy too. For the main dish, we chose my favorite duck curry. Dessert we chose one that both of us could agree on, peppermint crisp pudding.

By the time we finished tasting and choosing the dishes, it was already late afternoon. 'That was a long lunch,' I thought as I went up the stairs to get to my study. As I was about to enter my study, I heard a pile of things drop followed by Maxon cursing under his breath. I flung open the door to catch Maxon red handed, 'Trying to steal my folders, I see...' I said, looking at him from top to bottom like how the police officers did in movies.

'Oh, come on!' he whined. I'm already done with my work, I'm just trying to help.'

'Alright, only three though.' I told him. From the ten or so folders he were holding, he pulled out the three thickest ones and placed the rest on my desk. Before I could contradict him, he dashed for the door with his folders. I shook my head and went to my desk to start my work. I really did appreciate Maxon helping me with work but with him doing everything, I felt useless since I was letting him do everything.

'It's dinner time!' Maxon sang as he walked in with two trays of food.

'Just in a second.' I replied as opened the last file.

'I should have taken four.' he mumbled to himself as he put down the trays.

'I'm almost done already.'

'Yes, dear.'

'How many times have I told you not to call me dear?' I asked as I put the folder away.

'Let me count... Hmm... One,'

'Yes,' I said just as slowly.

'Yes one.'

'It can't only be one!'

'No, I'm quite sure it is.'

'Are you sure?'

'Actually, hold on. I forgot to say the word behind it. The answer is one, hundred.'

I laughed and he laughed along with me. Now that I look back at it, it doesn't seem funny at all. Maybe it was the face he was making. We managed to calm down and start eating our food.

When we finished our food, Maxon asked,'Want to take a bath together.'

'Maxon, you know that the answer is always yes.' I replied trying to sound seductive but failed miserably causing us to laugh out loud. We crossed over to Maxon's room for the bath.

We went into the bubbly, foamy, warm water and took a sit in the tub. Everything was so peaceful as we played with the bubbles. However, I didn't realize that we were inching our way to be closer to each other until I felt Maxon's arm around me.

'Can I feel your bump?' he asked seeming cautious.

'Of course, why wouldn't I allow you to?'

'I thought you were uncomfortable when Doctor Ben was feeling it.'

'Oh Maxon, my royal husbandness, how are you anything like Ben to me?' I said as I took his hand and placed it on my bump.

He smiled and left a kiss on my cheek,'I love you.'

* * *

'Are you ready?'

I nodded in reply although I was feeling a little nervous. I had never met anyone from Afridia before so I didn't know how I should act. We did know things liked them not liking clothes that were too revealing so I whore a long dress which had sleeves up to my wrist. We made our way down slowly to the main lobby where we would meet them. A few minutes after 12 noon, the guards opened the wide palace doors to welcome our guests. Following a guard were the King and Queen of Afridia had dark coloured skin as I had known. The King was tall and slim, with his black hair smoothed back. He was wearing a white and gold suit. His wife was slim like him, with wavy black hair and wearing a white and gold dress. It didn't really look like a dress though but it looked similar.

They walked over with bright smiles on their faces.

'Thank you very much for making time out of your schedule to come.' Maxon greeted.

'We are very glad to be here.' The King said.

'This way to the reception,' I said leading the way.

I entered the room and heaved a sigh of relief once I made sure everything was good. We took our seats over at the table set up in the middle of the room. I took a glance at them as we entered to see if we screwed up or we were fine. The King looked rather pleased, good that nothing had offended him and the Queen seemed to be happy too. Once everyone took their seats, Maxon started initiating conversation.

'How was your journey over here?'

'Oh, it was fine, the scenery here is very beautiful, I have always wanted to visit Illea.' the Queen replied.

'I see.'

I hear that there is a caste system here?' The King asked.

'Yes, at the moment, we are trying to remove it since we believe that there is no longer a need for it.' He nodded approvingly at my answer.

'How has Afridia been?' Maxon asked.

'Well... It has been going relatively well. I just find it a little hard sometimes without my parents, I'm sure you understand Maxon.'

'Yes...' Maxon replied.

'May I ask how old you are?'

'We are very young compared to other rulers, I am twenty while my husband is twenty-two.'

'No wonder they looked so young,' I thought. 'Oh, I am nineteen and Maxon just turned twenty one this month.'

'What a coincidence.' The King said.

'I never knew there were any other rulers as young as us.' Maxon said, surprised as well.

'Neither did we.' the Queen added,'Oh, and we haven't even introduced ourselves, I'm Elizabeth and he is Kaz.'

'I am America and he is Maxon.' I introduced.

The meeting went on with tons of story telling and bonding over how young we were and King and Queen. Sadly they had to leave at three thirty so as to not miss their flight. I had to say, I did not expect have such a good time with them. We settled the allie document early on and chatted through lunch and all the way till the end when they had to leave. I felt a huge sense of satisfaction and I could tell Maxon did too from the fact that he was grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

Today was the day. We were making history in Illea once again with an election held which allowed citizens to vote for a 'voice' in the monarchy. They were counting the last batch of votes now and the results would be in soon. We would be broadcasting the results on the report. Nominees were seated on the other side of the set. We had gotton to know the men a little in the morning since they were invited to the palace. They all seemed like decent men to work to with. Once the results were in, we would go live and announce the results. Well, by we I meant Maxon. After which, we would welcome the advisors on stage and give their little speeches and that will be it. So I had nothing to remember to read in this report which was a nice change, stress-free. I looked at the men in their suits, all decently dressed. I looked at the advisors who used to have the spot and didn't have to fight for it. They all sat together, just like they would in the conference room. I secretly hoped that all of them would get a spot back as advisors but there was no way.

Everyone was just seating around, whispering to one another but mostly waiting. I sat on a chair off stage since I was getting tired of standing around. Out of the blue, a young boy burst into the room. At the speed he was running, I would have thought someone had attacked the palace.

He showed me the paper,'Your highness.' He breathed, trying to catch his breath.

'Sit down,' I offered as I stood up. I took the paper from him and handed it to Maxon. He nodded toward the camera crew and they got ready. I stood on the podium beside Maxon. The men were all fidgety, they couldn't seem to stop moving, it looked a little funny from where I was at but I kept from laughing.

The camera started rolling and Maxon started with his speech, 'Thank you everyone for tuning in and your participation in this election...'

I honestly did not remember much of the night, I think it was because all I had to do was stand there and look happy, calm and that was it. We got off the stage after Maxon announced the advisors. One by one, they went up to give their speech after Gravril announced them. Most of their speeches went along the lines of,' Thank you for voting for me, I will do my best to serve the nation...' which was starting to be dull once we were half way through the line of advisors.

Finally after what seemed like a life time, the last advisor walked off stage and Gravril signed off. The advisors took a lot longer to deliver their speeches than expected so it was already nearing ten. The advisors went home, the ones that did not make it went home after the names were announced, a few left a little later but when the report ended only the advisers, camera crew as well as Maxon, me and Gravril were left. At some point the mail boy had left too. The advisors left the set together, all happy that they got in and sharing their joy with one another, seeming to get along. They were going to be living in the same block so I hoped that they would be nice to one another since they are going to be spending majority of their time together. Somehow, their bond reminded me of the selection, mainly The Elite when we were close. 'Good times,' I thought as I recalled the last few days of the selection.

'You alright dear?' Maxon asked as he approached me.

'Just tired,' I replied as I managed a smile.

'Tired eh?' He said and before I knew it, he had me in his arms, carrying me bridal style.

I had underestimated his strength, he almost effortlessly climbed up the stairs with me in his arms and lay me on the bed.

'Come on, let's get ready for bed.'

'Can't I just go to sleep like this?' I whined.

'Sorry, but no,' he said, almost sounding apologetic which made me get up.

I quickly washed myself up, but bothering too much about hygiene since I felt like I could pass out at any moment. I was finally done and crawled into bed. Maxon joined me moments later after switching off the lights. He snuggled up to me and I felt his body relax. I felt like embracing him but seconds later, I gave in to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of something like a peaceful dragon sleeping beside me but it was more of Maxon snoring while he was sleeping beside me. 'At least it isn't like Dad's,' I thought. Dad used to snore really loudly, you could hear him sleeping from the hallway. I smiled at the fond memories I had with him then I turned to Maxon who was sleeping soundly beside me. He must have been really tired yesterday and yet he carried me up the stairs,'Silly Maxon,' I whispered. Maxon always snored when he was tired and only when he was tired which happens a lot less now. I went back down under the covers and snuggled up close to him. He moved his arm which slid into the gap between my neck and the pillow and hung it loosely off my shoulder. I left him a kiss on the cheek to tell him I was awake. He didn't flinch except for a smile creeping onto his face. I gave him a kiss again, this time on the lips and his he opened his eyes this time and returned the kiss.

We got ready shortly after and headed for the conference room where we were meeting the advisers. Unlike the previous group of advisers, they were quiet and immediately greeted us when we entered. Maybe if someone had told them how the advisers used to be a bunch of people who acted like the conference room was a farmers' market they would act differently but I appreciated their good behavior.

'Let's introduce ourselves first.' Maxon said as he motioned to Steven to start.

'I'm Steven.' He started confidently.

'My name's Anthony.' He greeted next and so on so forth.

I had realized all of the advisers that were in the last batch were sitting together, on Maxon's side and the new ones were seated on the left, my side but I didn't think too deep into it since it was quite normal for all of them to want to sit together.

Maxon briefed them on the usual schedule and let Steven and Anthony tell them the details. Since I didn't really know what was going on, I just nodded when everything they said made some sort of since or seemed right. They said something about folders they would get, news, budget things and if they had any issues, they should bring it up during the weekly meetings on Sunday. Once Steven and Anthony had given their instructions, I asked,'Are there any questions?'

'Where we will be working?' One of them asked.

'We work in the palace, I will bring all of your there, and later go home after dinner and if I haven't mentioned it yet, you are to report to work at 8.00 a.m. everyday.' Anthony said which seemed to shock a few of the new advisers while the older ones smiled to themselves.

'Already teasing the new advisers,' I thought but said nothing as Steven spoke.

'However, I would like to add that you are able to go bring your work home starting from tomorrow. You are allowed to do this everyday except for Sundays as well as on days when we hold meetings. Basically, everyone is to be in the palace everyday from 8 to at least 10 in the morning but you are welcomed to stay till dinner.' At this point they were repeating what Maxon had said in the beginning about their schedules.

Finally, we were able to dismiss them and allow Anthony and Steven to bring them down to the office which I had never actually gone before. The advisers left, the new ones looked less confused as they did ten minutes ago but they still looked pretty confused. Anthony and Steven seemed stressed, probably because of the questions they were being asked and how much time they were wasting considering their possible workload.

I would love to check out the office, maybe even talk to the advisers, ask how they were doing, check up on the new advisers, make sure that they are adapting well to this new life they have. Chat with the older advisers maybe, ask how they have been lately but I am far too busy today to have any time for that. Mom called yesterday morning, inviting Maxon and I to go over for dinner today and of course we agreed to. The only problem is that now we have to complete all of our work before we leave and after this meeting, that was not supposed to be this long, we are already running late.

'See you for lunch?' Maxon asked.

'Alright, see you later. Oh, and please don't steal my work.'

'I'll think about it.' He answered with a cheeky grin.

I sighed and stood up to leave the room behind Maxon. We went our seperate ways to our different studies and I got to work. Marlee wasn't here which made me a little sad but she wasn't supposed to be in here anymore in the first place.

I had to say though, when you put all your focus onto something, you get it done way faster. I way done with three quaters of my work when Maxon came in with lunch.

'How's work doing he asked?' As I put away my folder.

'Good, how about you.'

'I'm almost done.' He replied as he took a seat in front of me.

We talked quite a lot as we ate, we vented a lot of the frustration we felt during the meeting which felt great. It was nice to let everything out.

Time flew past really quickly and I was already done with my last folder. I went to Maxon's study to see him still working. I know for a fact that he didn't steal any work from me that day so I was a little surprised he was still working since he did work a lot faster than me.

He glanced up as I walked over,' Almost done darling.' He said as he jotted down some words.

'No, it's fine.' I replied which allowed him to return writing at his usual speed. I sat there, half staring at him and half day dreaming. Looking back, I probably seemed like some kind of creep but Maxon didn't mind. When he finished with his last folder, he looked up at me.

'You've been bored?' He asked.

'No,' I started to say but realized that there was nothing much to say back.

'We should get ready now, or we are going to be late again.' Meh said as he glanced at his watch.

'I'm sure their used to it by now.' I said recalling all the times we have been late to their house.

'It's not very nice to be late, even if you are King and Queen.'

'It isn't very nice indeed, but if anyone wants to get us into trouble, we can just pardon ourselves.'

'So I will pardon you?'

'And I will pardon you.'


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello readers, this chapter is following the last chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it, I am still contemplating on wether or not to write an epilogue after chapter 20, the last chapter, so do continue leaving your opinions as well as names, thank you for reading.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

The car pulled up at the front of the house, it looked exactly as it did since the last visit except for a little overgrowth at the front. We walked up the gravel driveway and rang the doorbell. Moments later, the door opened to reveal May's face.

'Their here!' May shouted before coming to me for a hug and one for Maxon.

Mom came over behind her, with an ecstatic smile on her face,'Come in,' she said before hugging me and greeting Maxon. We stepped into the house and left our shoes by the shoe cabinet. There were a few more new paintings hung up. They were by May and Kenna but most of them were made by Kenna since May still has school. We went down the hallway, to the kitchen where Kenna was at, feeding Astra who was in his baby chair while James was cleaning up the kitchen with Gerad.

'Alright, dinner time.' Mom announced as she sat down at the dinner table.

I took a seat beside her and Maxon took a seat beside me. We took off the covers that were over the food to reveal our dinner.

Although it wasn't quite the same, having dinners over here always felt more like home with mom's cooking and the not so perfect food, it tasted like home and it was the one moment when I could feel like I wasn't queen but just a normal eighteen year old. Not that being queen is bad but sometimes, it gets tiring and a little break like this really helps. In the palace, everything is fine quality, beautiful which almost felt too good to be true which always reminded me that I was living in a palace, Queen. Here, it's like a mini escape. I'm in this house with my family eating dinner. It is not identical to the one back in Carolina but it helps.

We ate our dinner as we caught up with one another, by 'we' I mean more of Maxon and I catching up with the rest of the family.

* * *

I went into the Women's room after I was done with work. I suspected Maxon had stolen some of my folders again but I didn't feel like confronting him. Marlee was in the Women's room eating lunch.

'Hello.' She greeted.

'Hey.'

'How's is he doing?' I asked referring to the baby.

'Oh, the doctor says that he is doing fine although...'

'What is it?'

'He is a little big, so I might have to have a c-section.'

'I see, have you come up with a name for him yet?'

'I have talked about it with Carter, we are still deciding on a name, I am thinking of Kenneth, he suggested Cole which is pretty good too, what do you think?'

'Those are nice names,' I commented.

'Yeah, but you can only choose one.'

'Why not one for his first name and the other as his middle name?'

'We have decided not to give him a middle name.'

'Oh, well that's good too, not everyone needs a middle name.' I added with a smile.

'How about you and Maxon?'

'We haven't even talked about it yet. We mentioned it briefly once but we didn't mention any names.'

'That's alright, you two still have a lot of time to think about that.'

'I guess.' I said as I took a magazine from the pile on the table. I got bored after reading the first page. I read so much on a daily basis that reading kind of puts me off. As a maid came in with tea and snacks, I asked,'Could you help me bring down my violin from upstairs?'

'Of course your majesty,' she replied.

Moments later, she entered with my violin at hand,'Thank you,' I thanked and she scurried away. I went sit on the high stool, at the corner where all the other instruments were at so as to not disturb Marlee. I played songs off the top of my head, I haven't actually played the violin in a while so I was a little rusty but I think I sounded alright, at least not horrible. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guard poke his head through the door. I finished the piece and placed my violin on the chair gently before walking over. He was guarding the door and seemed terrified when he saw me walk over. I did not mean to seem fierce so I gave him the nicest smile I could to ease him.

'Is there something wrong?' I asked the guard kindly, which I realized was Jerry after being able to see him clearly.

'No, it's just that the song you were playing reminded me of something.' He answered calmly with a smile.

The song was one I learned by ear, I heard it being played in Carolina all the time,'Jerry, are you from Carolina?' I asked.

'Yes, your highness.' He replied proudly but I couldn't tell if it was because I recognized him or because he was from the same province as me.

I nodded and told myself to keep this in mind. I continued playing on the violin until I saw a familiar face come around the corner and stand by the door, Maxon.

'Did I disturb you?' I asked worried, suddenly aware of how loud the violin was.

'No,' he said, making it seem as if that thought was impossible,'I came down because I had finished my work and I knew you were here.'

'Because I played the violin?'

'No, it is because of the melodious music you make with a violin could be heard.'

'You always know what to say,'

'It is one of my many talents.' He replied smoothly.

He took my hand and led me to the garden. I looked behind before we left and waved goodbye to Marlee and saw he smiling at us.

We made our way to the pavilion where dinner was served. I had completely lost track of time while I was playing the violin and only realized then that the sun was starting to set with orange and yellow streaks traveling across the sky. Maxon led me to my seat before seating down himself. We ate our food quietly and went to bed early that night.

* * *

I woke up in the morning, but it wasn't anything like other days, this time, it was about one in the morning and I darted for the toilet just as I woke up. Maxon must have heard because he was by my side moments later.

'I don't feel good.' I said once I finished.

'You will be fine dear, are you feeling better?'

I was about to nod when I started puking again. This was bad, I thought, had something happened to the baby? What was wrong with me? And I could tell from Maxon's face that he was in the same state of confusion as me.

'I'm getting Doctor Ben.' Maxon said as I lay on my bed.

I was not feeling well at all so I just nodded and let him call Doctor Ben up. They came up together moments later. Doctor Ben was still in his white coat so I guess he was still working.

'Do you feel better at all?' He asked as he came to my bedside.

I wanted to say yes but the truth was no,'I don't feel much better,' I replied.

'Are you still taking the medicines I gave you for nauseousness?' I nodded in response,'I'm sure all you have is just a stomach bug, in the palace, these things can last up to a month till everyone's got it and recovers, you will be fine and your baby should be too, in the meantime, I need you to rest, strictly no work allowed and I would be coming to check up on you tomorrow, just so you know, got it?' I nodded and closed my eyes thinking that he was done.

'Please inform your maids about this, I will have the kitchen staff prepare meals for her and while she is still sick, tell her not to take the medicine I gave her.'

'Alright, thank you Doctor Ben.' Maxon said as he closed the door.

Maxon crawled into bed, I could feel him hovering above me as he moved my hair out of my face. I tried not to tense up but I couldn't help it.

'America,' he whispered.

I opened my eyes to see him starting into me, as if knowing that I was awake, or maybe he did know...

'You heard everything?'

'Yeah...' I said with a sigh.

'No work okay,'

'Okay.'

'Good girl, see you in the morning.' He said, even though it was already morning, and gave me a small kiss on the cheek before I drifted off into sleep.

I woke up to the sound of the shower turning on. I managed to open my eyes and sat up on the bed. 'Maxon must be bathing,' I thought and as if on cue, he walked out of the bathroom with his robe on and a towel in his hands trying to dry his hair.

'Feeling better?' He asked when he saw me before going into the closet.

'Yeah.' I replied. I was still feeling nauseous but it was not as bad as last night. He came out of the closet with a new suit on.

'I'm starting work now, see you later alright, I will try to join you for lunch he added.'

'It's alright, I love you.' I replied as he walked over to the door.

'Love you,' Maxon said before he door closed the behind him.

I slumped back into the bed, feeling exhausted even though I had just woken up. I probably wouldn't have moved for a long time would it not have been for my upset stomach. I made a beeline for the toilet and let out all the contents of what seemed like all that was left in me. I started feeling horrible again after that.

'Do you need help, America?' I heard Lucy ask.

I turned around to see the three of them, Mary, Licy and Paisley ready to help me. It occurred to me how horrible I looked so I shook my head and cleaned myself up. I heard their light footsteps leave the door as I washed myself up.

At the moment I stepped out of the bathroom, Mary came up,'Are you feeling any better, America?'

I simply nodded and made my way to the bed, feeling tired from crouching over the toilet bowl to vomit. Paisley walked over with the breakfast try in her hands and placed it on the bedside table. There was cereal in a bowl, with milk already in it, and a glass of water.

'I think I'll eat later,' I told Paisley,'By the way, where's Lucy?'

'She went to get Doctor Ben,' Mary explained.

'Oh, okay.' I told her. We sat there awkwardly for about a full minute before the girls dismissed themselves, stating they would be in my room if I needed anything. I closed my eyes, deciding that I might as well have a little nap before Ben arrives since I felt utterly exhausted but before I could let myself sleep, the door creaked open and I could hear heavy foot steps walking towards the bed. I opened my eyes to see just as I had expected, Doctor Ben with Lucy trailing behind.

'America, how has the morning been, any puking?'

'I puked a little while ago, once.'

'I see. Do you feel better?'

'Yes,'

'Alright, do remember to get plenty of rest and don't forget to eat and drink water and only drink water half an hour after you puke, if you have any problems, please do not hesitate to call for me, now I have to tend to other patients,' He said before taking off.

It was like he was here for just one second before he took off again but I didn't dwell on it too much. I let out a sigh before deciding to eat a little breakfast before taking a nap. Lucy stood at the foot of my bed, humming quietly to herself as she waited for me to finish with the cereal. Eating wasn't such a bad idea, it actually helped. Lucy took the tray away as I snuggled under the blanket for my nap. When I was sick, it was like when I was in the hospital after the rebel attack, lots of sleeping and not so much of anything else.

I felt a warm hand rubbing my thumb. I opened my eyes and saw Maxon. 'It must be lunch time now,' I thought. I sat up to see sunlight streaming in from the balcony and a lunch tray. There was some clear soup and bread for me. Maxon was holding his bowl of yougurht, probably his dessert.

I took the piece of bread which had a little bit of butter on it and munched on it. Maxon smiled and continued eating his yougurht. 'How was work?' I asked as he finished his yogurht. I could see him hesitate for a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell me but he did.

'Nothing much, just the usual. I went to check on the advisers though so that was cool, never really done that before.'

'Oh, sounds nice, will you be here for dinner?' I ask.

'Of course,' he says, patting my head like I'm a little girl,'Why wouldn't I be here, maybe I'll be here early.' He ended with a grin.

He put the bowl on the tray and waved goodbye to me before heading outside. I nibbled on my piece of bread, not really feeling it, and drank most of my soup. There was nothing much I was allowed to do, I couldn't do work which was all I could really think about. I went into my room where the girls were, playing cards on my bed.

'Could you help me get ready?' I asked.

'Where are you going?' Mary asked, probably ready to say no to whatever thing I wanted to do.

'I want to have a walk in the garden, would you three join me too.'

'Walk in the garden...' Mary though to herself,'She can do that right?' She asked Lucy and Paisley.

'I think so,' Paisely replied.

'Of course she can, she can walk all right, besides, we are going with her.'

'All right, America, let's get you ready.'

I was relieved by her words but some part of me wanted to know the possible list of things I wasn't allowed to do and was this list known by everyone? Either way, they helped me get ready. Lucy started the bath for me as Paisley picked out a dress and Mary lay out all of the makeup.

I got ready without any mishaps which made me feel really good. I was clean in a new dress, a pastel green one, my hair was neatly tied in a hairstyle where a section of hair is braided and it is all tied together in a ponytail, and of course, I had on my usual makeup.

The four of us went down to the garden with ease. We strolled down the path that went through the garden. Unlike all the times when I was in the garden with Maxon, usually, I was focused on him but when with my maids, I had tons of time to look at the greenery around us. The flowers were all blooming at this time of the year, it seemed like the most beautiful period of time in the garden, 'The best time for Maxon to take pictures,' I thought.

There seemed to be a slight change of flowers in the flower beds, all the coloured of flowers that went well together were in a group together unlike in the past when all the same flower types were in a group and I had to admit, I preferred this set up much better.

'The flowers look much better,' I commented.

'Yes, they seem much more pleasing to the eye,' Paisley agreed while Mary and Lucy nodded.

We continued walking along the path till we walked through the whole garden Adam went back to my room. I felt tired so I took another nap and dismissed the girls.

I ended up reading for the rest of the afternoon, catching up on the pregnancy books and I started on a new book. I was a few chapters in when Maxon appeared at the doorway, all smiles.

'Are you feeling better?'

'Yes! Can I work tomorrow?' I pleaded.

He ran his hand through his hair and gave a hiss, a painful one,'Sorry about that but Ben will check up on you later to see how you are before deciding.'

'Urgh! Can't you let me? You're King!'

'Sorry darling, but I want you well before you work again.' He said.

There was a moment of silence before Maxon made his way to the bed and after that there was another period of uncomfortable silence. Fortunately, Lucy came in with our dinner and placed them on the table. As if an order, Maxon and I immediately got up and went to the table to have dinner.

One of the trays had a sticky note with my name written on it and one without which I guessed was Maxon's. We sat down and I ate my meal, bread, a baked potato and clear soup. I glanced over at Maxon's plate and almost wished I didn't, he had an elaborate meal of fish and chips. I wanted to ask for some so bad but Ben would go bonkers if he found out I ate some of Maxon's food.

We started chatting half way through, I tried to guide the conversation to work but Maxon kept directing it back to me or something else. I gave up somewhere in between and I told him about what I noticed in the garden. The chit chat died down as we finished up our meals. I decided to wash up before Ben arrived so that I could sleep right after his 'interrogation'. I brushed my teeth and undid my hair, taking out the pins and the rubber bands after I washed my face.

'Hello Doctor Ben, America is in the washroom.'

'Is her stomach upset?' He asked in a worried tone.

'Oh, no. She is just getting ready for sleep.'

'I'm right here!' I say as I walk out to them.

'Have you vomited anymore today?'

'You vommited?' Maxon cut in.

'I vommited once in the morning I said to answer both of their questions.

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'I figured it was not important.' I replied which made Maxon scrunch up his face.

'Alright you two,'Ben started,' I think it's safe to allow America to work tomorrow.'

'Are you sure?' Maxon said in a slightly whiny tone, I shot him a menacing glare, he knew that I wanted to work.

'Yes Maxon, I'm positive she is healthy to work,' he said with a sigh,'I better get going, stay healthy guys and don't forget about your next check up America,'

'I won't forget,' I confirmed even though chances are that I would...


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello readers, I hope you can help me out by leaving some names for the babies. I want to thank you for reading till so far, it really means a lot to me but without further ado, here is Chapter 18.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

'So...'

'Hold on,' he stated as he squinted his eyes to look at the screen.

My heart skipped a beat as we waited in silence, my hands felt cold as it searched for Maxon's. We had been waiting for this day for so long, I would want to hear anything but. Maxon took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

'Is something wrong,' He asked, his voice slightly shaky.

Ben said nothing, the eerie silence remained for moments, fear wrapping around me. Many times he opened his mouth like he was about to say something but when the babies moved on the screen, he would close them tightly and look at them.

After what seemed like a lifetime, he opened his mouth and said something for once,'I think one of them is a girl and the other a boy,' he said but his voice was screaming uncertainty.

'Is there anything wrong?' Maxon asks again.

'Oh no, the babies are just in wierd positions so I couldn't quite see them properly.' He assured,'We will have another ultrasound next week to confirm the genders but I'm eighty percent sure I'm correct.' He finished before setting his glasses on the table and rubbing his eyes.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding, from the look on his face one would have thought something horrible happened to them, 'So are we done?' I asked, I couldn't wait to get back to work since this took a lot longer than I thought.

'Yes, yes. You guys may go now.'

Maxon helped me off the elevated bed and I grabbed my clothes to go to the bathroom to change. As I was about done and ready to leave, I heard some murmuring. Curious, I leaned against the door so that I could hear them better.

'Are you sure, can't you give her something so that she goes into labour early?'

'No, but there's no need to worry too much, she's still not too far, the growth of the babies might slow down.'

'She said that she doesn't want a c-section.'

'You know clearly that that statement won't change anything Maxon.'

I heard him give a frustrated sound, something between a sigh and a frustrated scream. Why wouldn't they talk to me about this? 'Maybe because I would be stubborn and reject,' I answered myself. They didn't say anything after that so I came out and I took it upon myself that I wouldn't bring up their conversation or think about it myself, too much.

We went to the conference room together, Maxon had inserted a meeting for today for who knows why, even I didn't know but I it was only an hour meeting so it wasn't too bad and I figured it was important.

The advisers greeted us as we entered, it has been a month and I still feel like it's a miracle. We sat down and Maxon started going over stuff like stocks and such.

'Now let's get into the second part of this meeting, the main reason I have gathered us together today.' He said.

'Second part of the meeting?' I thought.

'As we can see from what I have mentioned, the sevens and eights have all been absorbed for a few days now,' he continued,'so I think we should get into phase three, the removal of the sixth caste. What do you think gentlemen.'

I cringed over the fact that all the advisers were men, it was like how the ruler was always a male, a King. It also made me uncomfortable to be the only female here but this was how it was like, maybe the next generation could work on that but for now there are enough things for us to handle, namely the demolition of castes.

There was mumbling going around the table but no one raised anything.

'I think it would be a good idea to carry on with the demolition of castes.' Toby says after everyone went quiet.

There were many approving nods including ones from me. At this point, there wasn't really anything stopping us from carrying out phase three. The people are happy, there have been no political mishaps, everything was fine.

Nodding, Steven added,'Yes, we should announce it on next week's report.'

'Alright,' Maxon said as he jotted down the notes,'You are all dismissed.'

And one by one, the advisers went out of the room.

'See you later Maxon.'

'See you later darling,' he said as he got up to leave.

In my study, Silvia was there. She had started coming in since Monday and I had a funny feeling Maxon had asked her to.

'Good morning America,' she greeted without looking up from her folder, not as polite or friendly as Marlee.

'Good morning,' I said trying to sound nice and I hoped I did,'Did Maxon ask you to help me?' I ask not able to contain myself.

'Yes,' she said after a moments of hesitation, guilt seeping through her voice.

I let out a sigh and started work, well the work I had left...

I finished everything by the time it was time for lunch. I went out of my study after dismissing Silvia, meaning to find Maxon. In the hallway, a maid was there holding two trays of food.

'Is that lunch for me and Maxon?' I asked.

'Yes, you majesty.' She said after curtsying.

'Could you help me bring my tray into Maxon's study too, I want to have lunch with him.'

'Of course, you first.' She said gesturing to the door.

I opened the door slowly and saw Maxon on the phone with someone, he looked a little surprised at first but nodded for me to come in. The maid behind me followed and placed the trays on Maxon's surprisingly neat table. He ended the call as I sat down and gave me a bright smile.

'Who was it?' I asked, inquisitive.

'It was just Adele, she was checking up on you.' He said, making it sound like it was no big deal.

'Oh.' I said, surprised Adele even called. 'So many surprises today...' I thought as I sat down at the table to start eating lunch.

Throughout lunch Maxon seemed a little twitchy, like he was hiding something. I thought it was because of his talk with Ben so I didn't think much of it...

* * *

I woke up, like any other day. It was a Sunday today and Maxon and called off the meeting for today yesterday, 'Because we have already covered everything for the week,' he explained. The message was passed to all the advisers so today is a full rest day which I never thought I would have ever since I was Queen.

Maxon poked my side cheekily, not wanting to wake up, I edged to the side of the bed.

'America...' He chimed.

'What...' I whined.

'Wake up.'

'But we have no work today!' I exclaimed.

'What if I tell you I have a surprise?'

I sat up and looked at him in the eye,'I'm listening.'

'It's a surprise! Don't think that I'm just going spoil it. Get up, we have to go down by nine.'

'Nine!' I exclaimed, we had already slept in and if we were to be ready by nine, we would only have a little more than half an hour, basically, not a lot of time.

'Yes nine. Now get up.'

Somehow, energy and motivation magically surged through me and I got up and went straight to my bathroom, though I was walking a little slowly.

None of my maids were in my room so I got ready myself. I took a relaxing shower and put on my robe before going into my closet to find a dress. There was a small section of dresses in my closet for my mertanity dresses, from the ones for my first trimester to those I wear now.

I chose a navy blue dress for today, it was a little more dressy and I picked it because I figured if Maxon meant anything by 'surprise' it would mean date or party or present, something along those lines. I looked into the mirror and saw pinkish streaks across my tummy. 'stretch marks ,' I think is what they call it. I had read about them but I never envisioned them on my own skin. This came like a big boulder, good bye to beautiful smooth skin.

Out of the blue, I felt Maxon's arms around me, holding me. It was until then that I realized that I was crying.

'You're beautiful America, please don't cry.' Maxon whispered over and over again into my ear.

His words calmed me down and he wiped away the tears from my face with his thumb, gliding gently across my face.

'You will always be beautiful okay.'

I nodded although I don't think I fully believed him.

I got dressed and put on a little make up before working on my hair, simply brushing it out. Maxon was already dressed and ready to go when he came to me so he was just waiting for me.

We went down to the Women's room a little past nine, to be honest, I thought we were going to be a lot later but there we were walking towards the Women's room. I thought it was going to be a simple date as his 'surprise' since there was no noise coming from the Women's room.

But as I rounded the corner, I heard the group shout 'Surprise!'.

Everyone was there, the same group as the ones that attended the get together at the garden but they stood surrounding a table that was split in half, one pastel pink and the other baby blue. The balloon attached to each table said 'Girl' and 'Boy respectively. On the table were piles of gifts and at the fronts of the table hung a sign,'Baby shower!'. It felt like Christmas all over again.

I was practically speechless, stunned, taking everything in. Everyone started chatting and getting food, the noise level completely different from what you could hear moments ago. Marlee came up to me first.

'Hey.' She greeted.

'What's up?' I asked casually.

'I have been meaning to tell you but I haven't got the chance to. I will be delivering tomorrow.'

'Oh,' I said, feeling a little hurt but this was Marlee's only chance to tell me and she did so I couldn't complain. 'I'm so excited for you! What are you making him?'

'We decided on something on the middle of the names we first said, we are naming him Kile, Kile Woodwork.'

'Ooo... That's a cute name. I can't wait to see him.'

'Me too, enjoy your baby shower,'

'Thanks Marlee.' She smiled back at me before wondering off into the tiny crowd.

Mom came towards me, big smile, arms opened wide, tears wanting to spill over.

'I'm so proud of you,' she said as we hugged, as best as we could, and she patted my hair.

The guests came to me one by one, congratulating me once more and telling me how excited they were or happy they were for us.

* * *

We waved goodbye to our guests as they slid into the black cars, heading for home.

'Did you like my surprise?' Maxon asked as we turned around to head up the flight of stage.

'I loved it,'

'Glad you liked it,' he said before turning me so that I was facing me.

I looked into his eyes and he held onto my gaze. For a moment I thought we were going to kiss but he looked back at the stairs and walked towards it, walking awfully slowly so that I would catch up to him.

We climbed up the flight of stairs to Maxon's room, which seems like a mountain now. I finally made it up the stairs and entered Maxon's room. There was a small pile of gifts there, the rest were still in the Women's and they were working on bringing the rest up so every now and then a maid or guard would enter to drop off a bunch of gifts. I lay on the bed, exhausted from the climb. Maxon sat at the opposite foot of the bed seeming to be day dreaming.

'Hey Maxon, have you thought of names?' I asked to snap him out of whatever he was thinking about.

'Oh,' he said as he looked at me,'What did you say again?'

'Maxon... What's wrong?'

'I didn't mean not to tell you this yesterday,' he started, voice guilty and I already knew what he was going to say,'but Doctor Ben said that you might have to do a c-section, like Marlee.'

'I know,' I whispered.

'What?'

I took a deep breath before answering,'I heard the two of you talking yesterday,' my voice almost inaudible, trembling as I tried to hold back the tears. Maxon moved closer to me and once I was in his arms, I sobbed as my head rested on his shoulder. The door creaked open and Maxon gestured for him or her to leave. The presents met the floor with a thud before before the door closed.

'I will find a way,' he whispered as he pushed me back to look at me properly.

He wiped away the tears before the door opened again. I turned around and this time it was a maid with trays of food for lunch even though we had just eaten breakfast during the baby shower.

'Are you hungry?' He asked.

I shook my head,'I'm going to touch up on my makeup,'

'Alright.' Maxon said as he followed me.

Only Mary was in my room at that moment but she was busy sketching so other than a 'Hello,' she didn't bother about me. I thought my make up was destroyed due to my crying but it wasn't to bad except for a few streaks and my eye makeup. I patched it up quickly and went out to my bedroom where Maxon was, by the door patiently waiting.

He took my hand as I drew near. He pulled a chair across the room to the pile of presents and gestured for me to sit as he settled on the floor.

'Are these all the presents?'

'These are all the presents.' He confirmed as he took one and passed it to me.

There were a bunch of baby clothes, onesies, tops, shorts, dresses and shoes. Someone gave me a pump, for milk and milk bottles. There weren't any names on the presents but I figured it was from Kenna. We received a few soft toys, probably from May and Gerad, two teddy bears, one shark and one which was a cute duck. We also received a package, cream for stretch marks which I was actually elated to receive. We opened most of the gifts and only one was left which was in a huge box. We opened the box to find a smaller white box and in it was another box, I felt like this was one of those antique Russian dolls. We opened the box which had words on it which made me believe this was the last one although a small part of be thought that there were just going to be smaller boxes.

I should have given this the benefit of the doubt. In the box was a big sized pillow, it had the length of two pillows but it was skinnier than normal pillows. Maxon ripped off the plastic with his strong arms and flung it to the bed, having it land perfectly, in front of the pillows. On the box read 'Pregnancy Pillow,' and there was a note stuck to the corner of the box, paper taped down onto it, and it said:

 _'You can thank me later little sister,'_

'So this is from Kenna...' I thought as I helped Maxon clean up the wrappers, boxes and plastic wrap. We ate our lunch once we cleared the room, we didn't talk about my pregnancy but instead talked about everything else going on which was nice because whenever I met someone while pregnant, their first words were always something about my babies and while it is nice, I preferred not to have the world revolve around me, talking to Maxon felt like a break.

After lunch we caught up with the pregnancy books and such. I had slacked the last few weeks so it was time to catch up. A lot of reading was done that afternoon, we read silently in the room as time ticked by.

The afternoon sunlight streamed in from the balcony, our only light source. As the sky darkened and it was harder to read, we closed the books and decided on a stroll around the palace. We went to the main hall, dinining room, Women's room, library, basically all the rooms on the first floor. We left out the garden since we always had dates there and went to the kitchen for dinner when we had enough of walking.

Kelly greeted us with a warm smile before giving some instructions to a young cook. He nodded but seemed lost and unsure. I eyed the young cook as he took two trays from a small group and placed them on the counter, in front of us. Maxon lifted the lid over his food and on the plate was some potato wedges and a burger but it had no meat in it, only vegetables.

'Is this right Chef Kelly?' Maxon asked.

'She turned around immediately when she heard his voice and came over to look at the food.

One look and she said,'Oh, my apologies, these are for the vegeterians.' She said as she took the trays away.

She went over to the young cook that brought us the food. I was a little afraid for the boy, hoping he would not get scolded. Kelly was nice though, she didn't scream or talk loudly at all, she whispered to the boy and pointed to the other side of the kitchen where there were trays, there were distinctively more trays in that corner than the place he previously took food from. Kelly handed him the two trays and he placed them back where they were previously before taking two more trays of food and placing them in front of us, all the while wearing a semi happy expression with relief mixed in too.

This time I lifted the lid from my food first and was met with what I saw previously except this time the burger had a beef patty in it as well as two thin slices of cheese, it probably had lesser vegetables too.

I bit into the burger with content, taking in every ounce of flavour it offered. We finished the last of our wedges and went back up to Maxon's room. Without a word, we got ready for bed. I cleaned my face, applied some of that cream I got on my belly and changed into a night gown. As I entered Maxon's room again, I saw that he was sitting on one of the lounges reading a book. I didn't realize until then that it was still rather early so I joined him after taking one of the pregnancy books from the bookshelf.

I looked at the vast night sky painted in front of us as a shooting star shot across our view. I took this as a chance to make a wish,'I wish for a happy family,' I whispered.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, once again to another chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

I woke up from the sound of a constant knock on our door. 'Maxon get the door!' I half whined and half shouted. Maxon struggled to get his slippers on and scuffled to the door.

'What is it?' He asked, voice raised, sounding annoyed.

'Miss Marlee wanted me to pass this note to America,' the timid maid replied.

He softened his voice,'Thank you.'

He walked over with a small slip of paper in his hands and passed it to me. 'Dear America,' I read aloud,'I would like it if you could meet me, before I deliver Kile, at 10 in the hospital wing. If you can't make it, I understand but I hope to see you.'

It was seven and a Monday. I planned out the day in my head, so I would get ready and go to work first and later visit Marlee when it was almost 10.

I put my plan into action and walked towards my room. I heard a sound from Maxon like he was going to say something but when I turned around he sealed his mouth shut and just smiled before going into his bathroom.

I could hear the tap running as I opened the door, the scent of lemongrass wafted into my nostrils as I took in a deep breath. Mary and Paisley were on my bed doing a few sketches. They stood up to greet me as did Lucy when she poked her head out of the doorway to the bathroom. I sunk into the warm bubble bath and cleansed myself as Lucy did my hair. I went to my study shortly after, Silvia was there again, just starting work.

'Good mornings Silvia.'

'Morning,' she greeted.

'Please tell me when it is almost ten,' I said as I sat down.

'I will keep that in mind,' she replied.

There were things I liked about Silvia, one of which was that she never questioned me, never asked me why which was nice because I wouldn't have to think of how to answer her.

Ten came in the blink of an eye.

'It is almost ten,' Silvia reminded me as I finished my breakfast.

'Thanks,' I answered as I got up and left the door without another word.

I went down the stairs to the hospital wing. A nurse saw me walk in and took me to Marlee's bed right away.

'She's behind this curtain,'she said,'She has been expecting you.'

'Yes, thanks.' She nodded respectfully and walked off. I opened the curtains to Marlee's bed. She was hooked up to several machines but she looked fine. She smiled at me and waved me over.

'How are you doing?' I said as I sat on the edge of the bed.

'Okay, just a little nervous, I'm not a fan of being cut open.'

'You will be fine, you are in the hands of the best doctors in Illea...'

'I know, I'm really excited to meet Kile, like see him for the first time.'

'Me too, I wonder if he will look like you or Carter, blond or dark hair, blue or brown eyes?'

'I just hope he will be healthy.' She said with smile.

'Where's Carter anyway?'

'Oh, he is bringing over the stuff for the baby, he should be back any moment now.'

'I see, when will you actually have the baby?'

'Around noon maybe?'

'Okay, see you later?'

'Yeah,' she replied.

I left her as Carter walked in through the doors of the hospital wing. I waved to him and he returned the gesture before he picked up speed and went behind the curtain to Marlee.

I did some work back at my study. I was starting to get bored as noon was approaching so I decided to take some work down to the operating room so that I could do some work while waiting.

I went down to the operating room, the light was on which meant that they had started. I sat down on one of the chairs and did some work.

'Are you going to eat lunch?' A voice asked.

I looked up to see the chocolate brown eyes and honey blond hair of Maxon's. He held out a plate to me which I took before he sat down next to me.

'Why are you here?'

'Marlee is in there, is she not?'

'You came for me or Marlee?' I asked cheekily.

'Well... A little bit of both, more of you though,' he corrected.

My eyes went to the folder he had in his hand,'Doing work here?'

'While waiting, like you.'

I took his answer with a nod, eating and doing some work for about ten minutes until I could here the soft sound of a baby cry. A few moments later, Doctor Ben walked out of the operating room.

'How is she?' I asked when he walked past us.

'Oh!' He exclaimed startled,'I'm sorry I didn't see you there. The surgery went smoothly and you may go in and see them now.'

I made a beeline for the door, walking as fast as I could, Maxon beside me. I looked through the glass bit in the door, they were together as a family, Kile resting on Marlee's chest and Carter standing beside the bed, watching over them, smiling to himself. The area was being cleaned and Marlee was in a normal hospital bed as the operating table was being cleaned.

Kile had big brown eyes and dark stubble over his head. They looked like a perfect, happy family.

'Going in?' Maxon whispered as he looked in from behind me.

'We can meet Kile later, let's give them some family time.' Maxon agreed easily and we left the operating room.

I brought the rest of my work to Maxon's rooms and spent the rest of my time there doing work with him, I realized that I wanted to spend more time with him since the days of only Maxon and I in this family are numbered.

* * *

'When are they coming, again?'

'They should arrive at nine,' I replied between mouthfuls.

'Whose coming?'

'Mom and Kenna.'

'Only two?'

'Yup.' I replied as I chugged down my milk.

'Alright...'

Mom and Kenna were visiting today so Maxon used his King powers to give us half of the day off. There was a knock on the door and so Maxon went to open it. Avery was there in place of Carter since Carter wanted to spend time with Kile for a week before going back to work.

'Ms Magda and Ms Kenna have arrived your Majesty.'

'Thank you, we will be with them in a second.' Maxon said before closing the door and turning to me,'Are you done?'

'Yup.' I said as I stood up and walked towards him. We went down to the Women's room where mom and Kenna were, seated with magazines in their hands.

'Hello,' I greeted them as I sat down,'Why did your want to meet us for?'

'Oh nothing, we just wanted to check on your babies,' Mum said casually.

'What about them?'

'Have you thought of names?' She asked.

Maxon and I looked at each other blankly, blinked, looked at mum and shook our heads.

'Well, you two should get to it! Which is why Kenna and I are here today.'

'To name our babies?'

'No Ames, to help, to give suggestions.'

'Oh,' I mouthed as I felt Maxon leaned back into the chair.

Mum tore of a bit of the magazine she was reading and took out a pen from her pocket. 'So she was ready for this...' I thought.

'So which one would you like to start with first?'

'Huh?' Maxon and I let out.

'Which gender, which gender names would you like to start with first.'

'Girl?' Maxon suggested.

'Right.' Mom said as she drew a line down the piece of paper, dividing it into half and labeling the columns 'girl' and 'boy' respectively,'Let's all say a name and I will fill this up.'

Kenna went first,'Sophie,'

'Darcie,'

'Carol,' I suggested, which made Maxon's face light up.

'Diamond,' He suggested.

Out of the blue, Mom asked,'So you want to have a natural birth right?'

I nodded slowly, gears in my head turning to try to think of what she might possibly be asking.

'Who would you like to be there?' She said, playing it off casually although I could hear from her voice that this was probably why she was here.

I could feel Maxon's body tense up, I knew what he was thinking, was I going to tell her about the possibility I would have to have a c-section? I wasn't sure either but after a quick second I decided not to. 'Oh,' I started, 'Maxon of course, and you,' I added as an after thought. I didn't want to think too much into this topic since I knew chances were that I wouldn't be able to have a natural birth but I liked to hope and I wasn't about to break down, not here, not now.

We went for another round with girl names and two other rounds with boy names which were a little more difficult to come up with. By the end of our little meeting, we had a list of eight names for each gender. Mum passed the peace of magazine to us before they left, just before lunch.

* * *

'What do you think?' I asked Maoxn as we ate lunch. He took the paper that was beside my plate and looked at it.

'Carol is nice, where did you get that name from? Carolina?'

'Yes, it's a nice name especially if she is going to have red hair like me, it will suit her. I also hope that the name will remind me of Carolina a few years down the road...'

'That's nice, darling.' He complimented which made me blush.

'I like Shea, it's unique and it reminds me of...'

'Shalom Singer.'

'Maxon...' I started but I didn't know what else to say.

'Finish your lunch, we have work to do later.' He said, saving the awkward silence for later as we ate.

I went to my study right after lunch. I entered the room to see Silvia, which I had grown accustomed to, but I realized there was one folder on my desk, and only one.

'Is there only one folder left?' I asked, hopes high.

'Yes,' she confirmed, tone light and proud.

My heart fluttered at her words, I was on cloud nine, almost dizzy with happiness. 'Thank you so much for your help, I think I can handle the last folder.'

'Of course you can, see you tomorrow.' She said as she stood up to leave.

I breezed through the last folder, it was easy as pie and I was done within minutes. 'What to do now?' I said to nyself as I placed the last folder on top of the rest. 'Garden? No, I go there to often... Maxon? No, he has work to do... Marlee? Marlee! I can visit her and Kile.' I thought.

I went to the hospital wing where Marlee was, in the same bed as she was in yesterday morning, still hooked up with stuff but she didn't have a bump anymore and Kile had entered the world, sleeping peacefully in Marlee's arms. Carter didn't seem to be around which made me relieved, I didn't want to barge into their family time. I sat on the chair beside her bed,'He's adorable,' I said.

'Oh, hi. Meet Kile Woodwork.' She introduced to me as if I was a stranger.

I played along with her,' Hello Kile,' I said as I waved at him. Kile actually started to wake up, revealing his blue eyes. 'He looks so much like Carter.'

'He's perfect.' She said with a sigh as she stroked his soft cheeks.

'Can I hold him?'

'Sure,' she agreed as she handed him to me.

I took him awkwardly and tried to hold him like how Marlee did seconds ago but it was harder than it looked. After slight adjustments and marlee's help, Kile rested comfortably in my arms. He tugged at a lose strand of my hair playfully.

'You should try singing to him,' Marlee suggested.

I thought of a few lullabies Mum used to sing to Gerad anad May and gave it my best shot. I hummed quietly as I swayed my arms from side to side, rocking him gently. He smiled and 'sang' along for a few lines before he drifted off to sleep again.

'You will be a great mum,' Marlee commended as I placed Kile in the crib.

'I don't know about that, Marlee, there are tons of things I don't know...'

'Well, look at it this way, in a few months when you have your babies, you will have me to coach you as wel as your mum and even your sister. I'm sure you can do it.'

'Thanks Marlee, you are too nice to me,'

'That's what friends are for right?'

I nodded in reply but I didn't know what else to say so I gave her a hug,'Thanks for everything, see you around.'

'No problem and thanks for seeing us, it was getting quite boring in here since I'm alone, Carter has gone up to take a nap,' She added the last part with a giggle.

We waved goodbye to each other and I left, seeing Marlee creep back into bed out of the corner of my eye. I walked past the Women's room and decided to spend time there since I had nowhere else to be. My instruments stared back at me, as if each saying,'America, play me!' over and over again. I looked at the saxophone and held it up to my mouth but my big belly refrained me from doing anything of that sort. I sat on the seat of the piano thinking,'So this is why mum always played the piano more often whenever she was pregnant.' I looked through the stack of sheet music that I got from mum for Christmas, clean sheets of paper with notes and scales, all of them were brand new pieces which made me excited to learn them by heart. I practiced a new different pieces, I used to hate this process but I miss it now, it has been so long since I have learnt a new song, also, it feels so rewarding when you can play the song fluidly from memory.

I ended up learning a new song and I was looking through the sheets of music, finding one I wanted to learn when a maid came in with tea and snacks, interrupting my thoughts.

'Your Majesty,' she said as she placed the plate on the table beside the piano,'King Maxon asked to me tell you to meet him in his bedroom at 4:30.'

'Thank you, is there anything else.'

'No, that is all,'

'Very well, thank you for the tea.'

I finished learning the second song, a short quick piece, before someone else entered the Women's room but this time, it was Mary.

'America, King Maxon would like for us to get you ready.'

'But there is still an hour to go!'

'I'm sorry America, but these are his orders.'

'Alright.' I said getting up, not wanting them to get into trouble,'Do you have any idea what it's up to?'

'No! Maxon always told us his plans but this time he didn't, I asked around but all I got was, it's a 'special' date,' she explained with air quotes.

'Maxon and his surprises,'I said with a sigh, a smile on my face and a shake of my head but I was excited, this was going to be a different date and I was intrigued as to what he would offer. There were things to do in the palace but we have done everything at least once or twice now, 'Maybe we will go outside the palace?' I thought which I quickly dismissed since I realized that wouldn't happen since I was pregnant and even if I wasn't, where would we go?

We went up to my room, moving painfully slow but anything faster would leave me gasping for air like how one would after running a mile. After hiking up the stairs, I entered the room where Lucy and Paisley were, patiently waiting for my arrival. They came up to me eagerly and after quick greetings, they pulled me into the bathroom for what Lucy described as a 'Pamper Bath'. I was expecting something different in the bathroom, I'm not too sure what it was but my stomach sank a little when I looked around and realized nothing special was set up.

I should have given them the benefit of the doubt because as soon as Lucy closed the door behind me, procedures were , the most noticeable thing for me was that all my maids were still in the bathroom with me. Paisley turned on the tap, allowing water to flow and fill the tub. Mary opened the cupboard under the sink and instantly, I knew this was going to be very different from what I originally thought of.

Mary took out a box of scented candles and a lighter,'What would you like this room to smell like?'

'What can you offer?' I asked pretending to be a customer.

Mary giggled before replying,'We have Cotton Candy, Beach Walk, Vanilla Cupcake, Beryylicious, Hazelnut Coffee and Gingerbread Maple.'

'Vanilla Cupcake, please.' I replied, not allowing myself to think of it too much.

Lucy's voice could be heard next,'What colour would you like you bath bomb to be? We have sunrise, cotton candy, morning ocean, galaxy.'

'Morning ocean,' I replied, already feeling pampered even though the bath hadn't even started! I washed my face and put on the mask Mary instructed me to. She lit up the candle as Lucy dropped in the bath bomb which fizzed away and Paisley was crumbling something under the running water. 'What is that?'

'Oh, it adds more bubbles into the water,' Paisley replied.

Lucy helped me undress and I got into the tub, filled with colourful water and an absurd amount of bubbles, not to mention the amazing scent surrounding the room. They messaged my skin with a scrub which exfoliated my skin before using shower oil on my skin. Of course, my hair was not to be left out. I washed my hair and we covered it with some hair oil before putting on a hair mask. I relaxed in the tub for majority of the time after that, soaking up every second of it, playing with the bubbles and just lying down to relax. Lucy came in a while after to help me rinse off.

It was so relaxing and the best part was how amazing my skin felt after that. I walked out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed and energized. They showed me the dress I was wearing that night, it was a dress with the exact same design as the one I wore on the first day I came to the palace, except bigger to fit my bump. I was dangerously close to crying but luckily, the tears didn't spill. They didn't bother with makeup since I did just wash my face but they put up my hair in a simple bun.

I was ready and went out the door, knowing exactly where he wanted me to be.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello everyone, here is the last and final chapter of my fan fiction. I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you are reading this, I want to thank you so much for reading till the end, it means a lot to me.**

 **This chapter takes place a few months after the last chapter and there is a *bonus epilogue* at the end for all of you to enjoy. There will not be a bonus epilogue chapter like I originally planned as I find it too tedious since a nice and short epilogue is better than a long and dragged chapter of their future. I hope you understand and as always, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

Doctor Ben had said that there was going to be a surprise this visit but I am starting to doubt him. We have done everything and the visit is already wrapping up but nothing special has happened yet. He was asking another unnecessary question when the door creaked open as a lady with a small frame, emerald green eyes and black hair walked in.

'I'm so sorry I'm late Doctor Ben,' she said as she went to his side.

'It's alright, in fact, you are right on time.' He said to her before turning to me,'I said that there is something different about this visit and this is it, as I have previously breifed you, you are in your third trimester and your baby can arrive any time now. I was going to introduce you to her last week but something came up for her but anyway, this is your midwife who will be delivering your baby.'

She gave me her hand and I shook it willingly. I was glad to know she was my midwife and not some old man. Maxon shook her hand too before Doctor Ben continued.

'I would like to remind you that if your baby doesn't come this week, we will have to go with the c-section we have planned, no pressure alright.'

I did something between a nod and a shrug, he has been drilling this statement into my head for a few months now and it's starting to annoy me. I fully accept having a c-section now, whatever will be best for my babies so I don't particularly like it when he nags at me about this.

'That is all for today, you may go now but could I have a word with you Maxon?'

My brow shot up unknowingly but I followed the midwife out of the infirmary.

* * *

 **Maxon POV:**

'What is it Doctor Ben?' I asked once they closed the door.

'How has America been feeling?'

'Normal, good, tired, what is it?'

'Could you convince her to stop work, her stress levels need to be lower, the numbers are getting close to dangerous.'

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair,'I'll try.'

'Thank you, Maxon.' He said and got up to leave.

At that, I left the room and walked down to the entrance of the hospital wing where America would be waiting for me. I was was more than halfway down the aisle when I heard the rebel alarm then, I heard a gun shot. The sound bouncing off the walls, ringing in my ears. I ran as fast as I could, like a lighting bolt. As I reached the doors, I heard another gunshot. 'Oh no,' I thought as I cought sight of what had happened.

* * *

 **America POV:**

We waited together for the two men to come out, Maxon and Ben. I was humming a song as I paced around while the midwife leaned against the wall. Out of the blue, a man in rugged clothes appeared with a gun, pointed at me, finger on the trigger. I froze with fear as the rebel alarm sounded. The sharp shrill filling the room. I thought I was going to die. I could see him slowly applying more force on the trigger, everything was somehow in slow motion until a force pushed me to the ground and I heard a shot fire from in front of me, the rebel and almost immediately after that, another shot fired, from behind me, causing the rebel to fall with blood oozing from his head. I looked at the person who pushed me away, it was Jerry and he was alive. That was when I felt a warm liquid coming out of me. Tears immediately swarmed my eyes, ceovering me like a blanket of fear. From the blurred vision due to the tears, I saw Jerry's panicked face. Maxon appeared and lifted me up, moving quickly to the safe room.

Maxon laid me down on a blanket that was on the floor. I heard the safe room door seal shut as Maxon came up to my side, wiping away the tears.

'You will be alright okay, I promise.'

I calmed myself down while Doctor Ben and the midwife had their little discussion in the corner. I was starting to feel a sharp pain in my abdomen area when they came to me.

'Do you feel pain?'

I nodded.

'Alright this is happening, here and now.' the midwife said and somehow, her words helped me relax.

They checked for my dilation and told me I was five centimeters along. I thought it was going to be easy but I was clearly mistaken. The next contraction hit like a boulder, a landslide compared to the last one. I squeezed my eyes, gritted my teeth until it was over. Maxon stayed my my side, holding my hand as I lay on the blanket, head rested on the bench after each contraction.

The pain escalated quickly, they used pieces blankets to wipe my sweat and gave me tap water to drink through a cup when I was thirsty. I was on the floor, going through the worst pain in my life while Maxon, Ben and the midwife watched me and did their best to help me through it.

* * *

 **Maxon POV:**

America was in pain, a lot of pain and I could not do anything about it except to let her hold my hand and encourage her. Of all the things when being King, one of the things I promised myself when marrying America was to give her no suffering, no pain and I was failing epicly right now.

'Maxon,' America said as the last contraction left her.

'Yeah?'

'What are the odds...'

'What?'

'We are in this safe room again...'

I realized she was right, when she helped me dress my wounds, where I found her during the last rebel attack, and now the birth place of our first child.

America let out a whimper and I could feel her grip tighten which brought me back to reality. I brushed her hair out of her face and left a kiss on her temple.

'It will be over soon, relax...'

She opened her eyes and loosened her grip, her gaze fixed on me,'I love you.'

'I love you.'

* * *

 **America POV:**

I let out something between a scream and a shout as the next contraction hit, sooner than I expected, bringing everyone's attention to me.

'I'm going to check you now,' the midwife said and I didn't reject her offer, it has been about two hours and a lot of pain so I hoped I was somewhat close to having them in my arms.

'8 centimeters,' she said.

'I can do this,' I thought,'They're close...'

Ben found a basin and filled it up with water and while the mid wife took her scissors and cut up pieces of blanket. We were at the back of the room, beside the sink, about to have a baby.

The midwife was constantly checking me to see if I was fully displayed which I was glad for since I wanted to have my babies as soon as I could.

After an hour and many long, painful contractions that came with screaming, the mid wife said I was fully dialates and could start pushing. She told me a simple pattern to follow as I pushed and we started at my next contraction.

I started feeling an immense amount of pressure and pushed with all my might, a scream escaping my mouth.

'You're doing great America, push.' The midwife encouraged.

I took in a deep breath and as the next contraction hit, I pushed again. The contraction ended and I rested my head onto the bench, panting, sweat pouring down my face.

'You can do this America,' Maxon whispered into my ear.

I did a couple more pushes when Maxon glanced down and cheered,'He's coming! We can see him. Push harder. He's almost here.' He continued as I squeezed his hand harder.

The contraction ended and I opened my eyes, hoping to see his head but it was blocked by my tummy which had shrunk. Maxon was still by my side, kissing me on the lips as Doctor Ben and the midwife were on the other end. I probably would have felt awkward that three people had a clear view of my below if I was not experiencing the worst pain of my life but another contraction hit and I had the urge to push.

I started to feel a ring of fire, burning me from below. 'It's burning...' I whimpered, I could no longer ignore the pain. Tears started streaming down my face and suddenly, the pain felt ten times worst. 'Make it stop...' I whimpered.

'You were doing so well America, you can do this.' He said as he wiped away my tears.

'I can't.' I said which made me more emotional, causing me to cry harder.

'America,' Maxon said, voice hard, his hands cupping my face so that I would have to look at him,'You are a fighter, you can do this. You here me?'

'America, push.' The midwife called.

I would not have been surprised if one of them had gone deaf due to my screaming but soon enough, the head was out. Ben told me to stop pushing which was surprisingly dofficult when I had all of that pressure built up but when I was given the green light, with one push, the baby was born and the babie's cry filled the room.

'Baby A is a boy, 9 May, 1:03 pm.' Doctor Ben said for all of us to hear, hoping that at least one of us would remember this when we get out of the safe room.

They cleaned him up with a blanket, placing him on me when they were done.

'Hello Shae,' I whispered.

'Welcome to the world Prince Shae Thomas Schreave.' Maxon whispered.

Ben took him away, to the other side of the room, to make sure he was fine and would live until we got out of the safe room for him to do his tests.

I started pushing again for our baby girl, Coral, which didn't feel as painful, probably because she was smaller or maybe because I knew I could do it.

'This one has hair,' the midwife cooed as I felt the head crown.

I focused my energy and pushed hard and after a few pushes, Coral came into the world. She was cleaned placed on my chest where I saw her little red hair.

'Baby B, 9 May, 1:15 pm.' Ben called out again.

'She's beautiful,' Maxon said as he stroked her cheek gently.

Ben took her away to make sure she was fine as the midwife cleaned me up. They placed all the dirty things in the tin basin and put it in the sink. The babies were wrapped in blankets when I saw them again. Maxon and I cuddled them, rocking them until they fell asleep.

'It was worth it,'I thought as I looked at our babies who were peacefully sleeping in our arms and the smile on Maxon's face, it was all worth it..

* * *

They heavy door creaked open, revealing Jerry's face.

'They're here,' he said.

I was already up on my feet, holding Coral, ready to go. We went to the hospital wing where the midwife took Shae and Coral to the babies' section to check on them. Maxon was pulled away by Silvia and Steven for some paper work which left me with Ben for my check up.

Everything passed like a blur, soon enough, me and my babies were deemed healthy and were allowed to go back to our rooms. I held Coral protectively in my arms as we made our way to the nursery.

The room was mostly light yellow except for the wall where the cribs were pushed against which is green. There was a rocking chair, bookshelf, a chest of drawers and a changing table, everything we would need for the babies. The wall where the cribs were against had a beautiful mural May did for them.

I lay Coral gently down in her pink crib and Maxon did the same with Shae. I kissed Coral on her temple before we left them in the room. I was absolutely exhausted and was ready to pass out in bed but Maxon insisted that I ate something before I slept.

'Maxon, I am so tired!'

'Didn't you sleep in the safe room.'

'I just gave birth Maxon, please?'

'Just eat some fruit and I'll let you sleep.'

'Urgh!' I let out but ate some fruit before I hit the hay.

* * *

I heard a loud cry which interrupted my dreams, followed by my husbands shushing but when it didn't work, he called for me.

'America, darling please wake up.' He pleaded.

I woke up to see him carrying little Shae in his arms who was crying like the world was going to end.

'He's hungry,' he said.

I sighed and slid off the top half of my dress to breast feed. Kenna had given me a lesson, which was painfully awkward, of pasig stuff so I knew briefly what to do. 'Here's your first meal Shae,' I thought. It wasn't as difficult as I imagined it to be and it came off quite naturally as to how to position him. Shae was definitely hungry and just as I was done with him, I heard a wail come from the nursery. Maxon immediately dashed to the nursery to bring her to me.

'Same thing?' I asked when he came over to me with Coral who was not crying as badly anymore.

'Same thing,' he nodded.

Maxon played with Shae as I fed Coral, making funny faces to him which made not only Shae but me laugh a couple times. Lucy brought in dinner and I was already starving so we placed the babies on the top of the bed where Maxon and I usually slept before digging in.

Since I practically skipped lunch, I was starving and was so delighted to see food on a plate. I finished eating when I heard a soft cry. On instinct, I turned around and looked saw Coral, upset. I went over since Maxon was still eating and lifted her up. She had just eaten so it must have been the diaper. I went to the nursery to help Coral into a new diaper and she was smiling again. We played with the babies for the rest of the day until they were tired and it was about time they went to bed. We placed them in their cribs and when they were reluctant to sleep, I hummed a little lullaby, just loud enough so that they could hear me and they easily drifted off to sleep.

I hadn't realized and I don't think Maxon had either that Silvia was standing by the door.

'What is it?' I whispered to her, my voice almost inaudible because I didn't want to wake them up.

'I just wanted to check with the two of you, confirm the details,' she whispered back, almost as softly as me.

She handed the folder to us and we looked through it. At the end, were their names in fine print,'Shae Thomas Schreave,' and 'Coral Kate Schreave,' we're born on 9 May, 1:03 and 1:15 pm respectively.'

'Who is going to be the heir?' Maxon whispered to me.

'We will have to wait and see...'

* * *

 ***Epilogue***

We looked down at our two angels, running around playfully in the garden. The afternoon sun hanging high above them but the heat doesn't bother them. They continue prancing around the fountain and bushes, trying to catch one another.

Time flew by so fast and now the twins are already two years old, toddlers. Both so precious and loved. I still remember the day we told the people about my pregnancy and how they rejoiced, the memory followed with the happy air in Illea when they were born. And now they may rejoice again.


End file.
